The NBA has announced that it will be suspending the 2019/20 regular season indefinitely after the conclusion of tonight’s games. According to the league’s announcement, it will use the hiatus to “determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
A Jazz player has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), the NBA confirmed in its statement, adding that the test result was reported shortly before the tipoff of tonight’s Utah/Oklahoma City game, which was ultimately postponed. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the affected player is Rudy Gobert.
The NBA’s Board of Governors had a conference call earlier today to discuss ways to handle the pandemic. Several teams were open to the idea of postponing all contests while many were in favor of playing without fans in the arena. The Warriors had planned to host the first game without fans on Thursday night at the Chase Center, but that game – like the rest, starting tomorrow – will no longer be played as scheduled.
In today’s discussions, the Knicks were the only team that wanted to keep the status quo with regard to fans being in the stadium amidst the coronavirus outbreak, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com tweets. The franchise wanted things to remain the same until a government or public mandate dictated a change.
According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, there was talk earlier today around the NBA that if any player tested positive, all teams that played against the team with the infected player would have to be quarantined for two weeks. While 14 days has been the general rule for recent coronavirus cases, no official timeline has been set by the NBA.
In the short term, teams that have been in contact with Gobert and the Jazz in recent days will likely attempt to test their players as soon as possible. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Jazz and Thunder players were quarantined in the Chesapeake Energy Arena following tonight’s postponement.
For more on the story, check out our full report on Gobert’s positive test.
Holy shshshshdjcnf
Absolutely ridiculous.
Not so much.
yes so much
why is it rediculous?
Gobert killed an entire season by touching microphones.
AKA Dont listen to guys who only graduated from high school who were mostly coasted through on there athletic ability about health crises. They dont know anything about pandemics or preventing viral spread(even when its twitter)!
wowza yowza
Right call.
And inevitable, anyway. I just didn’t expect it to happen this soon, but that’s fine.
There’s more to life than sports, although I can’t say that applies to everyone in this thread…
I’m on the opposite spectrum I think it’s about a week and a half later than it should’ve happened… and that might even be late.
The reason we don’t have many cases is because we fumbled the response and were slow in getting kits out. If we had been quicker on the draw I guarantee you that we would have thousands more cases than we do right now. So, in this country, we’ve probably missed many cases due to that slow response… not to mention that most are either asymptomatic or show minimal symptoms that mimic a cold or mild flu but are actually COVID-19 so they wouldn’t go to the doctor.
PS: I know you didn’t ask about the rambling second paragraph, I just wanted to get that out there in case anyone questioned the lack of cases. Apologies if you feel I hijacked your comment! :)
Agree, go on.
Self-quarantine may hide the full numbers of covid19 infection, while artificially raising “side effects” like the kill rate.
Are you saying you think people are going to self-quarantine in orde to inflate those “side effects” numbers like kill rate?
What a ridiculous comment to make. For what reason you dislike like folks for being prudent, I have no idea.
Because I did not say that or indicate that or mean that. Nobody will decide what to do based on a contributing to some statistical profile. Maybe consider what IS the most prudent thing a person with a cold should do.
I just pointed out factually that the stats we do have will be affected by these considerations.
Public officials interviewed *smh* during interviews at the possibility of mass self-quarantine. The rest of this post available on request.
I don’t disagree with you, but from a business perspective, I thought the NBA might have waited a tiny bit longer to go this route, as the ramifications from such a decision are significant. Kudos to them for taking the lead here, although their hand was somewhat forced.
And no worries, I know what you’re feeling. There’s a ton of ignorance going around right now regarding this virus and it’s frankly maddening, even as someone whose personal risk is quite low (29, no preconditions). The facts are right in front of us, and yet so many choose to twist them to serve their own agenda, political or otherwise.
In a few weeks time, we’re probably going to be talking about 10k+ cases, if not many more. In fact, I’d wager that there will be several hundred thousand cases at a minimum before all is said and done, if not a total in the millions.
Anyway, I hope you and your loved ones stay safe!
Next up NHL MLB and a death nail for Wrestlemania
Getting out of hand. If this is so bad this should be happening everywhere. All this does is elicit panic and further tank our economy with this media coverage. Give it rest.
bUt tHe EcONoMy!!111
You know the entire country of Italy essentially shut down right?
I m in Italy. We can’t understand why it s so hard for most people in the west to open their eyes
Hospitals are the problem, not the death rate.
well yes, that’s what happens when the system is overtaxed. hardly on the hospitals themselves.
Wow!!!
Surprised comments aren’t shut down here like they are on the baseball site.
They don’t have anywhere near the traffic here…
So it’s like it was there a few years ago before all the knuckleheads invaded. Nice.
There’s only about 30 of us on here.
Wow.
Definitely time to shut down the comments.
Yup. Get them in while you can, folks!
Why tho
For what purpose a comment shutdown?
Loose electrons can spread the coronavirus
Personal attacks, people getting butthurt, political nonsense…that sort of thing.
i am offended by that comment.
This sh!t is worse than I thought.
If you’re reading this, wishing you great health!
Less of cancellation and more of a hiatus. Relax.
That being said, holy snap.
How long before you think they realistically get a handle on all of this? I say not until mid April at the soonest. And that means some games are going to be cancelled. And if they come back and another player tests positive? Good night, more games.
No one has addressed yet contractual issues. Can they get players to play beyond July 1? There are specifics for what is expected from players and how they are compensated. Will players and owners be able to collectively bargain around complexities?
I don’t think anyone has answers to those questions yet, to be honest. The same probably applies to a lot of businesses: act first, figure everything out later. And it’s going to be messy for sure. The NBA will have to make up/negotiate a lot of things as they proceed. But, as is almost always the case in life, things should work out…eventually.
In terms of getting ahead of the virus, I don’t think that’s going to happen until the summer at the earliest. In China, they had the advantage of most cases being in a single centralized location. In the U.S., we will have no such advantage. And until we’ve gotten beyond that peak point, I don’t think much is going to change aside from pushing such decisions further and further back.
In all honesty they should just start the playoffs when ready to resume after a few warm up games. At this point the entire east is set and so is the west for that matter.
Thats quite idiotic every year placement and most times playoff births happen in the last week or final regular season game.
If the biggest thing corona virus interrupted was seeding that would be a win. Im talking teams in the playoffs. If you think the top 8 teams teams in the East now won’t be the same by the playoffs your delusional. 7 of the 8 teams in the west are in and Memphis has a huge advantage over anyone else for the last seed.
Once again I think your opinion is idiotic you can think I am delusional if you want. But with almost 15 games left if you think it wont have a significant role in playoff spectrum you are the delusional one. Why should seeding be sacrificed when homecourt advantage is at stake? I understand your point about east standings. But with almost 5 teams in play forthe 8th seed in the west. Your point makes absolutely no sense
Why does a season have to play out? Strikes have shortened seasons before.
The only consideration should be to equalize the games played.
Your missing the whole point. Yes there is still a few races for seeding but if thats the only thing you have to worry about at the end of this its not a big deal. Memphis is going to be the 8 seed. Quit buying into this media “their schedule is hard” nonsense. They are too far in front with little racetrack left. The teams in the “running” for the 8 seed have been far too inconsistent all season to finish 4 games better than Memphis going forward. The entire west is just bait for the LA teams anyway. At this point in the season we know who the playoff teams are.
Pure speculation on your behalf.
You want to bring everyone back to determine a champion?– might as well make them equalize the RS GP too, so the RS stats are comparable.
Memphis is 3.5 up on 3 teams evenly. With 15 games to go. What are you talking about? If it was 5 games left your point would make a little more sense. If they go even .500 the rest of the way they could be out. Ido not get your logic but I undrrstand the nature of your opinion.
If there was 5 games left and they were 3.5 games up it would be 100 percent over. You dont seem to realize these are mediocre teams chasing Memphis. If Memphis went .500 the rest of the way they would definitly get in.
They can’t be as mediocre as Memphis, right?
I mean, I am sure the Celtics would rather get the Pacer than Philly, but I get your point.
NBA Finals in July gonna be lit
Could be over JUST in time to start the 2020 preseason schedule…
Who was that owner or exec that said the NBA should push the season 2 months anyway? Going to get his wish, this year will be a trial run for NBA in July and August.
People who think the NBA should shorten the regular season schedule must be giddy now. This year and next year look like they could be less than 82.
I’m expecting record attendance, for sure.
Such a Dolan thing to do.
Yep. I blame Dolan, Kyrie and the Warriors for racking up all those championships.
Rudy is just the scapegoat.
lmao as a Knicks fan, I had the same thought. A joke franchise with Dolan at the helm.
As I said when Kobe’s passing was so horrifically sudden, I suggested that the NBA suspend play to acknowledge. I was lambasted. Now I commend the NBA to apply common sense to an obvious issue for its global fan base.
You should have been lambasted. Yes, it’s sad, of course it is. But that’s a massive overreaction.
Flus will go around regardless. It should not be a surprise that this virus does too. It’s all so fast.
Prevention gets no help from Trump/congress and a society that prioritizes civil rights and cannot quite grasp abstract threats. This hysteria some complain about is a crude way of grasping.
Thermometers at gateways & alcohol: crude tools until a vaccine & testing arrive. Shutdowns are a worse option.
The virus is still contagious during the 14 day incubation period where the person does not show any symptoms. Thermometers would weed out the idiots who still go to games with symptoms, but they are not safe enough to be relied upon during large gatherings.
Thank you for the info; I wonder now if that is for viruses in general or this specific one, which was not as durable as others a short time ago.
and what do you think the govornment should’ve done? it hardly seems like anyone who bemoans “government incompetence” has any ideas on what they would have done better.
This transmission question is an example. People want to know if they should even show up at a workplace.
Tomorrow, they declare the Rockets the 2020 Champions!
Lol after losing 3 of the last 4 in embarrassing fashion. Lol get real!
Ouch, right before the bulls were about to go on a run…
Quick to the Bat phone.
This is Ridiculous. Google it. Last year there were over 67,000 deaths from the flu. Nobody made a stink. This crisis is media driven.
Whats 3% or so of the entire world?
21 million
3% of 7.7 billion people is about 10x that.
You realize we vaccinate for the flu every year because of how serious and deadly it can be, right?
Over 60,000 deaths last year from the flu. Nobody batted an eyelash.Yes this is media driven.
You do reallize 60,000 deaths across 12 months is different then a pandemic virus which has literally shut down countries, and has been around for at maximum a few months.
let me guess elhombree. Fox News watcher?
you understand there has been more deaths as a result of this virus in the last 2 months than your 12 month number and the number of cases is only growing.
60,000 have died from Coronavirus? Thought it was more like 4300 worldwide.
to be fair those numbers 4,300 could be deflated.
who knows how many for sure in China and Iran and countries were the government has more control on the news … not to mention there could be many cases were the cause of death could have been Corona but they attributed it to something else the only #s i trust and even then with a grain of salt is the american ones and those are going up DAILY unlike the FLU.
Sure, I’ll give you possibly deflated numbers. But even if that 4300 was severely deflated by 10x it’s still not really near 60k in 2 months as was stated. That’s just bad info.
Look at the large picture of who is dying. Elderly? Already underlying health conditions? Access to health facility or in a remote area with none? A very large portion males in China smoke, that doesn’t go well with viruses with respiratory implications, and that was a majority of reported deaths there: elderly males.
Now the US may have problems due to the obesity rate which may skew it as well. Also stressing an already stressed health care system that is already an issue here. Everybody just keep your heads on straight.
So what should they do? Not talk about it at all so people can complain about the lack of coverage? Either you’re gonna get an overabundance of coverage or no coverage. For something that affects the world on a global scale like this, its better to talk about it too much so at least we know about it and can do what we want with the info. Imo, its better to see the problem coming ahead of time instead of being blindsided by it.
And regardless of whether or not a specific type of news demands coverage, the media are going to talk about the popular/controversial topics. Its what generates views/clicks which equals money.
Bs
How many would have to die before it’s not
Dont believe all you hear
Why don’t you comment ten more individual times and let us know how dumb we’re all being, ok?
Or better yet L, you can cover your ears and say la la la la la repetitively.
That’s true, because some of it is the same “its only the flu” talk that many here are preaching
Best season in yrs. unbelievable. This sh ts getting crazy.
Are the Olympics next or will the coronavirus be a memory by then?
Apparantly the virus cannot sustain in summer heat according to research.
source?
Stop being lazy and look it up. A 2 second google search will reveal multiple medical sites stating this research. I made no claim is it being certified I simple said that there is legitimate research out there making this apparant claim.
seriously lazy? nevertheless I did do a Google search as you instructed and we’ll what do you know most sources claim the hope is that like other coronavirus strains the hope is it is seasonal in nature, but that most scientists just don’t know with this strain. I’m sure if they knew there would also already be a vaccine for it.
Nobody knows.
It’s only a Hope
In the other emisphere, into summer, really few cases
Rudy Gobert should get his 3rd straight D.P.O.Y. He just shut down every player in the league.
Good one!
bad situation but that was good.
“Rudy” has always been a heavily overrated movie.
I knew I should have invested in panic buttons years ago.
Ridiculous. Ludicrous. Outrageous. Unbelievable. That is the End of sports as we know it if a flu or cold ends a season!
NBA should cancel all contracts with China until they apologize for ruining the season. What Morey said pales in comparison to this.