Warriors’ Thursday Game Will Be Closed To Fans
1:17pm: The Warriors have confirmed that Thursday’s game against the Nets will be played without fans, announcing in a press release that fans with tickets will receive refunds. The club has also cancelled, postponed, or relocated all other Chase Center events through March 21, including a Post Malone concert and a Santa Cruz Warriors game.
12:49pm: In the wake of news that the City of San Francisco has banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people, the Warriors will be directed to close Thursday’s home game vs. the Nets to fans, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
The NBA recently instructed its teams to prepare for the possibility of playing home games with only essential personnel in the building, and had scheduled a Wednesday afternoon conference call with team owners and governors to discuss its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
A pair of Warriors games at Chase Center – Thursday vs. Brooklyn and March 25 vs. Atlanta – will be affected by the City of San Francisco’s decision to ban gatherings of 1,000+ people for the next two weeks. It remains to be seen how Golden State’s home games will be impacted beyond that date, or whether the league will elect to have games played behind closed doors in other NBA cities.
However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) hears from a source that the Warriors are planning to play their home games without fans for the “foreseeable” future, barring a change in the city’s directive. The team is still meeting to discuss the situation and could receive further direction from the NBA following today’s conference call, Woj adds (via Twitter).
Local governments in Ohio and D.C. have also recommended that indoor mass gatherings be postponed or cancelled — however, for the time being, that’s just a recommendation, not a ban. The Cavaliers and Wizards are unlikely to take any drastic measures without official word coming down from the NBA.
Warriors’ Home Games In Jeopardy Due To Virus
MARCH 11, 12:13pm: The City of San Francisco has banned public gatherings of 1,000+ people for the next two weeks, according to Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links).
The Warriors have two home games during that stretch – Thursday vs. Brooklyn and March 25 vs. Atlanta – so we should get an update soon on the organization’s plans for those games.
MARCH 10, 10:54pm: The Warriors could be the first NBA team whose home games are jeopardized by the coronavirus. There are “strong, strong, strong indications” that Golden State’s home game on Tuesday is likely to be the last one in the area not played in an empty arena for a while, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic tweets.
There will soon be a clear decision and announcement on sports events in the San Francisco area, Kawakami adds. The Warriors moved into their new arena in San Francisco this fall.
Fear of the virus apparently impacted attendance on the Warriors’ game against the Clippers, as Monte Poole from NBC Sports Bay Area tweeted out a photo of pockets of empty seats in the normally filled area. The Warriors are scheduled to play another home game against the Nets on Thursday, then embark on a road trip before returning to play the Hawks on March 25.
The league is scheduled to hold a conference call with team owners and governors on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
The virus has already impacted a conference basketball tournament at an NBA venue. The Mid-American Conference tournament, which will be held in Rockets Mortgage Fieldhouse — the Cavaliers’ home area — will be closed to the general public. That decision came hours after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended that sporting events at indoor facilities in the state take place without spectators.
The NHL’s San Jose Sharks are pondering what to do with their home games after Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department announced on Monday a mandatory order requiring cancellation of “mass gatherings” of more than 1,000 people for three weeks. The Sharks appear to be leaning toward playing those games in their home arena without fans, rather than moving them to a neutral or road site.
NBA Has Discussed Possibility Of Relocating Games
As the NBA continues to discuss potential responses to the coronavirus situation, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that one scenario the league has considered would involve relocating some games to NBA cities that have yet to suffer outbreaks.
For instance, if a team forced out of its home arena due to a local outbreak, the NBA has weighed the possibility of moving that club’s games to the opponents’ arena, or even to a neutral site, says Wojnarowski.
That’s just one of several possible measures being discussed by the NBA, which continues to mull the idea of disallowing spectators for games or even suspending games for a period of time. As Wojnarowski explains, the league’s conversations are complicated by the fact that limited public testing in the United States has resulted in an incomplete picture of how “widespread and debilitating” the virus may become.
Sources tell ESPN that the NBA has been hesitant to take a drastic step such as voluntarily eliminating fans from home games. However, the idea of moving games to new cities may be problematic too — bringing players and team personnel from an area more significantly affected by the virus to an area that hasn’t yet been affected seems ill-advised for containment purposes.
As we noted on Tuesday night, the Warriors are one team whose home games may be impacted sooner rather than later, as government officials in the Bay Area consider how extensively to limit indoor public gatherings. Conversations between San Francisco health officials and the Warriors have been ongoing, according to Wojnarowski, who hears from sources that Golden State is the NBA’s highest-grossing team on game nights, earning between $3.6-3.8MM per contest.
The NBA, which is scheduled to have a conference call with ownership representatives on Wednesday, has also scheduled a call with all 30 heads of basketball operations for Thursday, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Basketball leagues in Europe continue to be affected by the spread of coronavirus, with EuroLeague and EuroCup games in Italy being relocated.
Latest Notes On Coronavirus Situation
After initially declaring that he wouldn’t play in empty arenas if the NBA is forced to take extreme measures due to coronavirus concerns, Lakers star LeBron James walked back that stance in comments to reporters today. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays, James said he “had no idea that there was actually a conversation going behind closed doors” about extreme coronavirus precautions when he made his comments last week.
“Obviously, I would be very disappointed not having the fans, because that is what I play for — I play for my family, I play for my fans,” James said. “… But at the same time, you got to listen to the people that’s keeping a track on what’s going on. If they feel like it’s best for the safety of the players, the safety of the franchise, the safety of the league to mandate that, then we all listen to it.”
Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari, whose home country of Italy is among those hit hardest by the international coronavirus outbreak said today that he’d be on board with playing behind closed doors if the situation worsens, writes ESPN’s Royce Young.
“I am in favor, because I see everything that’s been going on in Europe, not just in Italy,” Gallinari said. “In all of Europe, they stopped every game, they stopped every competition, in between countries, too, so it’s not just Italy. The steps they did were playing normal games, then games without fans and now they’re not playing. Hopefully we don’t get to that point where we don’t play games anymore, but maybe as a step forward to play some games with no fans.”
As the NBA continues to weigh next steps, here are a few more notes related to the league’s coronavirus response:
- At an event on Monday night, Heat president Pat Riley expressed skepticism that the situation will get to a point where the league plays games without fans, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Until the league says something or something else happens, I doubt that that’s going to happen,” Riley said.
- One high-ranking team executive who spoke to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post took the opposing view: “I think there’s a good chance we will be forced to play games in empty arenas at some point. The virus is spreading quickly, it’s not contained, and it will not be contained any time soon. The threat (to NBA players and fans) could carry on into next season.”
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced today (via Twitter) that the state is asking for no indoor events with spectators to be held. The Cavaliers would be affected by a stronger edict from the state government, but for now the team figures to defer to the NBA on any major decisions. The Cavs also don’t have a home game until March 24.
- The NCAA issued a statement today announcing that it “continues to assess” how the coronavirus outbreak will impact this month’s tournaments. A decision is expected in the coming days.
De’Aaron Fox Is Latest To Oppose Empty Arenas
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).
League Bans Media From Locker Rooms Due To Coronavirus
6:15 pm: The Professional Basketball Writers Association issued a statement saying it would temporarily comply with the ban.
“We understand the NBA’s decision to temporarily close locker rooms to everyone but players and essential team personnel with the NBA’s promise that once the coronavirus crisis abates, the league will restore full access to the journalists who cover the league.”
6:06pm: The NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS have jointly announced that locker room access will be limited to players and essential personnel, sports business expert Scott Soshnick tweets.
The APSE and six writers organizations have issued a statement asserting that they are intent on preserving a safe work environment but that “we also must ensure the locker room access — which we have negotiated over decades — to players, coaches and staff is not unnecessarily limited in either the short or long term. We look forward to open communication with the leagues as, together, we deal with this serious health matter.”
5:25pm: The NBA is planning to ban the media from locker rooms due to concerns over the coronavirus, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Only players and essential team personnel would be allowed in locker rooms. Essential personnel would include coaches, front office members, basketball staff and the team’s public relations representatives. Teams have also been instructed to create a 6-to-8 foot distance between players and media members during interviews outside locker rooms.
The locker room ban is among recommendations from experts in the infectious disease and public health fields.
The NHL was the first major pro sports league to shutter the media from its locker rooms due to coronavirus fears. MLB is planning to make the same move, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The league has scheduled a conference call with team owners and governors to outline the steps that will be taken to fight the spread of the virus. More drastic measures could be on the horizon, including the possibility of teams playing games with only essential personnel in arenas if the virus continues to spread rapidly in the U.S. and Canada.
NBA To Discuss Coronavirus With Team Owners On Wednesday Call
The NBA has scheduled a conference call with its team owners and governors for Wednesday afternoon, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link). According to ESPN’s duo, the call will focus on the coronavirus outbreak and the next steps for teams and the league as a whole.
A previous report suggested that the NBA wanted its teams to have precautionary measures in place by Tuesday, so it makes sense that the league would follow up on Wednesday. Still, it doesn’t sound as if Wednesday’s call will just be a routine check-in.
As Wojnarowski explains in a follow-up tweet, concerns are increasing among owners and team executives that more drastic measures could be around the corner for the NBA. That includes the possibility of teams playing games with only essential personnel in arenas. A report last week indicated that the league had asked clubs to prepare for that scenario in case the coronavirus outbreak continued to worsen.
A handful of players have expressed reservations about the idea of playing behind closed doors. Goran Dragic suggested it would feel like “a pick-up game or practice,” while Kemba Walker said it would be “terrible,” adding that “they might as well cancel the whole game before that.” LeBron James issued the strongest statement on the subject, telling reporters he wouldn’t play in that scenario.
There’s no indication yet that the NBA is leaning toward going that route — we should find out more about the league’s plans following Wednesday’s conference call.
NBA Sets Tuesday Deadline For Coronavirus Plans
The NBA wants all its teams to have precautionary measures in place by Tuesday to handle an outbreak of the coronavirus, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
A memo from the league office instructs the teams to make plans to reduce the size of their traveling parties and calls for mandatory distribution of hand sanitizer to players and staff. Players have already been advised to change the way they deal with fans, with autographs and handshakes being discouraged.
A conference call will be held Monday with doctors and trainers from all 30 teams, Wojnarowski adds. Teams are being instructed to have an infectious disease specialist on call as well as a nearby facility that can test for the virus. Teams are also asked to designate a limited number of employees who will be permitted to have close contact with the players.
Earlier today, we passed along a report that media members may be barred from locker rooms over coronavirus fears. A memo from the league office yesterday ordered teams to make plans to play in empty arenas if the virus outbreak becomes severe.
NBA May Limit Locker Room Access
In light of the still-developing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak nationwide, the NBA may keep media out of locker rooms and limit team locker room accessibility to just players and team personnel, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).
The NBA has been making other preparations to protect players and fans from the spread of the coronavirus, including potentially staging games without fans. Lakers All-Star LeBron James has openly pushed back against this notion.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that coronavirus could adversely affect the NBA’s pre-draft combines, on-site workouts and international scouting events. League measures taken could include limiting those events or cancelling them entirely.
Around the NBA, the coronavirus outbreak has already made an impact on how players interact with fans, as The Athletics’s Mike Vorkunov detailed.
LeBron James Says He Will Not Play In Empty Arenas Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
After the NBA sent a memo instructing teams to prepare to possibly play in empty arenas amid the coronavirus outbreak, Lakers superstar LeBron James said he will not play under those conditions.
“I ain’t playing,” James said after the Lakers defeated the Bucks on Friday night, per USA Today’s Mark Medina. “I ain’t got the fans in the crowd. That’s who I play for. I play for my teammates. I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. If I show up to an arena and there are no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”
There’s no indication at this point that the league intends to play any games behind closed doors — this week’s memo was simply advising teams to make preparations in case the situation worsens in the coming days or weeks. However, James insisted that playing without fans in the stands cannot be done.
“We play games without the fans?” James asked. “Nah, it’s impossible.”
As the number of coronavirus cases around the world and in the U.S. has increased, the NBA has released statements at various junctures. Last Saturday, the league said it was working closely with the Center for Disease Control but not anticipating any schedule changes.
“The health and safety of our employees, teams, players and fans is paramount,” that statement read. “We are coordinating with our teams and consulting with the CDC and infectious disease specialists on the coronavirus and continue to monitor the situation closely.”
In another memo, the league warned teams that pre-draft combines and international scouting events could be impacted by the outbreak.