As coronavirus becomes a growing concern in the sports world, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox is the latest NBA player to speak out against the idea of having games in empty arenas, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.
The league sent a memo to its teams last week listing that as a possibility if the outbreak continues to worsen. A conference call has been set for Wednesday with team owners and governors to discuss all the options being considered.
“I think I’d definitely rather postpone games than play with no fans,” Fox said. “That’s why you have a home court. That’s a part of most sports, having homecourt advantage or going into a hostile environment. That’s a part of the game. Without fans, it’s not the same game.”
LeBron James expressed similar sentiments over the weekend, calling it “impossible” to imagine games without fans present.
Sacramento coach Luke Walton tells Anderson the team is taking action to protect players and make sure they’re informed about the virus. Precautionary measures are in place to prevent the spread of germs at Golden 1 Center, including more hand-sanitizing stations.
“We’ve brought in doctors to talk to the team. We’ve showed them videos,” Walton said. “… The NBA is really good at player and fan safety always being at the forefront of what they do, so there’s constantly communication going on between all of our organizations and the NBA.”
There’s more on the virus and its impact on basketball:
- Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious-disease expert at UC Berkeley, tells Ethan Strauss of The Athletic that it’s unwise for sporting events to continue under current conditions. “I think large gatherings of people in closed environments in the case of a pandemic is not prudent,” he said. “It’s the perfect way to spread the virus.” Five new cases were reported Monday in San Francisco, bringing the city’s total to 13. Nearby Santa Clara County has banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people for the rest of the month, which will affect three home games for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
- Associated Press Sports Editors has issued a statement opposing the locker room ban on media announced Monday by the NBA and three other North American sports leagues. “While we understand the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak and the need to contain it, such action is worthy of dialogue to come up with proper solutions to protect public health, allow media to inform the public and do our jobs properly,” the statement reads. “APSE joins writers’ groups in all leagues in objecting to this ban and welcomes discussions with the leagues to come to a reasonable resolution.”
- The coronavirus continues to cause havoc with overseas schedules. No fans will be permitted at today’s playoff game in Spain between San Pablo Burgos and Banco di Sardegna Sassari, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Thursday’s EuroLeague game between Olympiacos and AX Armani Exhchange Milano will take place behind closed doors after the league denied Olympiacos’ request to postpone the contest or play it at a neutral site (Twitter link). Maccabi Tel Aviv will impose a limit of 5,000 fans for its next two home games (Twitter link).
They realize that TV deals are the reason they all have the salaries they do right?
So it’s not just peabrain commenters online, its actually players who can’t wrap their heads around this?
In-game attendance is viewed as the “cherry on top” to any pro sports team owner. The TV deals pay the salaries.
not a good argument from fox
If fan noise is sooooo important just play crowd noises on the speakers. Fox’s issues have been fixed!
I work at a D3 school trust me you can play basketball in an empty gym
LOL
There are a variety of digital conferencing platforms that could be used instead in person questioning. Come into the 21st Century, NBA!
NO PLAY NO PAY!!!!
This is not an NBA issue. Its bigger than that. It affects everyone. Dont look through the lens of sports fan before you look through the lens of safety of others. As much as I spend daily here and mlbtr since both began, sports does not have to go on. In fact, if one game contributed to even a dozen deaths, I daresay no one would care that instead, lebron james got to play a basketball game.
Damn folks.
Is just the flu dude, all the panic is starting to border in paranoia, I am so sick of hearing about the covid-19!
The statement by lebron doesn’t surprise anyone. He named his kid maximus after the movie gladiator, which takes place in a giant colosium full of rabid spectators. “Are you not entertained?”
Talk about external sources of motivation. Sickening. I rely on inner motivation. I wouldn’t even notice the fans lol!!
I bet you never played in front of thousands of fans, so the question that begs an answer is… what the heck would you know about it?
True and A bunch of cheering embeciles would annoy me. I actually work best alone. Hard for many to understand I guess
Who is this fox? Rick fox son? Otherwise who really cares what he thinks. They need to ban the media because of stupid comments like this and not just because the coronavirus
Just use forehead thermometers at ALL the doors. That should still be done if ANYONE shows up.
Silver lining, an example is made.