Source: NBA Prioritizing Perception Of Safety Over Everything Else With Danuel House Situation

The Houston Rockets were “blindsided” by the NBA’s decision to keep Danuel House quarantined and that there had been little direct communication between the league office and team officials, sources tell Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. Houston also received no formal presentation of evidence.

The NBA discovered that a woman who worked on the campus as a subcontractor had passed security checkpoints and gained access to the Grand Floridian hotel on Monday night.

NBA security investigators have contended they had sufficient evidence to keep House out of the Rockets’ playoff series against the Lakers.

“The NBA is treating [House] as guilty until proven innocent for safety reasons,” said one person with knowledge of the situation. “They’re prioritizing their perception of safety over everything else. The NBPA feels its hands are tied. Any time [the union] talks about due process or presumption of guilt, [the NBA] immediately says, ‘Safety, safety, safety.’ There has to be some limit or balance.”

“If it was a star player, there’s no way [the NBA] would handle it this way,” said a person close to House with direct knowledge of the investigation. “They want to make an example out of somebody.”