Should Players Play Through an Illness?

Recently, a new controversial conversation has been brought up after Anthony Davis left the Lakers-Cavaliers game due to a non-COVID-related illness.

It was reported that Davis had been sick all day with a fever above 100 degrees, yet he still wanted to try to compete and play. Davis has recently been on a hot streak, winning Western Conference Player of the Week while putting up dominant numbers.

Davis was looking to continue his dominance; however, his illness was too much for him to continue. This sparked the conversation, should NBA players attempt to play while battling an illness?

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Fans took to social media to defend Davis for attempting to battle through the illness.

In the past, Davis has been criticized for missing too many games. However, even though Davis only played eight minutes, fans of the game still showed their respect due to his effort to be there for his team.

NBA players are very competitive and don’t always know when to take a step back and rest, especially when playing tremendous basketball like Davis has been the past month. So it’s hard to fault players for being overly competitive. However, fans were concerned about Davis being on the court with a serious illness.

Players that play through illness, like Davis, could easily spread the illness to their team, the opposing team, staff working close to the court, and even courtside fans. Throughout an NBA game, you constantly bump with other players, sweat a lot, and are in close contact the entire time you are in the game or on the bench.

As the opposing team, I would be a bit worried when being around a player with an illness, and it would be frustrating having your players miss games due to an illness they caught from an opponent.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Should players be allowed to play while aware that they have an illness? Or should they have to wait until they are cleared?