More than three weeks after leaving the NBA’s campus in Florida for personal reasons, Clippers center Montrezl Harrell has returned to Walt Disney World. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, Harrell published an Instagram video early on Monday morning showing the view from his Disney hotel, and posted, “I’m back!!!!!!!!” on Twitter.
Harrell left the NBA’s campus before last month’s scrimmages began, in order attend his grandmother’s funeral and to be with his family. The 26-year-old was very close with his grandmother, whose death hit him hard. The team had told Harrell to take as much time as he needed to grieve before returning to Orlando.
Having left the bubble with an excused absence, Harrell will likely be subject to a quarantine period of just four days now that he’s back, as long as he tested negative for the coronavirus each of the last seven days of his absence. If he didn’t abide by the league’s testing protocols, his quarantine period could be up to 10-to-14 days, but for now there’s no indication that will be the case.
As Youngmisuk notes, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was asked on Sunday whether the team might have Harrell available for its final seeding game this Friday vs. Oklahoma City.
“We hope so,” Rivers replied. “That’s all I can say.”
Of course, even if Harrell clears quarantine on Thursday, he may need a practice or two to get back up to speed, considering he hasn’t worked out with the team since mid-July. But his return to Disney World bodes well for his availability for the postseason, which is scheduled to begin a week from today.