Deni Diary 1/29: Deni Avdija Has A Cold
Deni Avdija has the novel coronavirus. Welcome to America.
You’re reading DENI DIARY, a weekly dispatch from Deni Avdija’s rookie season by Louis Keene (Twitter).
Deni Avdija is one of six Wizards players who tested positive for Covid-19, and one of about 26 million people in the United States who have tested positive for it. We don’t know this definitively because the NBA categorizes players who miss time due to concerns of Covid as being placed in “Health and Safety Protocols” (???) but yes, that’s what is happening. And he seems to have a lingering case.
Deni hasn’t played in three weeks.
In his absence, the Wizards have staked their claim as the team with the worst win-loss record in the NBA. The team went 13 days between games because half the team had Covid, then came back and were out of shape (it’s not like they could practice with everyone sick) and weren’t a particularly deep team to begin with, leading to outright shellackings by the likes of the New Orleans Pelicans (5-10 coming in) and Houston Rockets (6-9).
February looks daunting as the NBA attempts to reschedule Washington’s postponed games. The Wizards will play 16 games in the 28-day month.
Anyway, here are some pictures of Bradley Beal looking flummoxed by the hell-season.
Meanwhile, the Wizards introduced their competition to DENI DIARY yesterday. Per a team press release:
The Washington Wizards are expanding their footprint in Israel by launching a team website in Hebrew and the NBA’s first Israeli Instagram account. Prior to the start of the 2020-21 season, the Wizards were the first NBA team to launch an Israeli Twitter account. These platforms will provide exclusive content featuring Wizards forward Deni Avdija and the entire Wizards team to fans in Israel.
The Wizards have expanded their Wizards Podcast Network with the launch of the new Wizraeli Podcast hosted by the Wizards Israeli digital team. The show will feature interviews with Wizards personnel and voices from around the NBA and Israel. The first episode will feature Avdija and former NBA player and Israeli professional basketball player Omri Casspi.
It sounds like they’re anticipating a full recovery for our beloved Sabra.
Deni should be back in action early next week. Shabbat Shalom!