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‘Snitch Hotline’ Keeps NBA Players In Check On COVID-19 Protocols

A hotline made for notifying the league about quarantine violations was set up.

Multiple calls have been made to a hotline set up to report violations of social distancing rules in the NBA bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, PEOPLE.com reports, citing a tweet from The Atlantic reporter Sham Charania.

Players at the facility, where NBA play will resume on July 31, cannot visit each other’s hotel rooms, but are allowed to have restricted socialization. Upon arrival, they were quarantined in their rooms for 36 to 48 hours until they tested negative for coronavirus twice.

But some players have received warnings as a result of what’s been dubbed the “snitch hotline.” 

Two NBA players, the Sacramento Kings’ Richaun Holmes and the Houston Rockets’ Bruno Caboclo were placed in quarantine a second time after rule violations, ESPN reports. Holmes said in a statement that he only broke quarantine to pick up a delivery of food.

“After the initial quarantine period, I briefly and accidentally crossed the NBA campus line to pick up a food delivery,” Holmes said. “I am currently in quarantine and have 8 days left. I apologize for my actions and look forward to rejoining my teammates for our playoff push.”

But Holmes’ mother teasingly responded in a tweet of her own:

"You only cross the line for your MOMA’s COOKING! AND I WAS NOT IN FLORIDA SIR!!" she wrote. "Love you baby!"

Spencer Dinwiddie, of the Brooklyn Nets, who has opted to sit out the resumed season after a positive coronavirus test jokingly offered advice to basketballers in Orlando.

"To all my fellow NBA players, don't call the snitch hotline. Don't cross the line to get Postmates," he told Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.

The league did not comment when PEOPLE reached out.

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