NBA suspends season after player tests positive for COVID-19

this is new. Um, no, but I think it's a great decision by the MBA. I think they know what they're doing. I think it's better to be careful doing now then, rather than doing later. So you know, this is tough. Is the friend of the young guys is it's a new thing. I've been a lockout. It's kind of kind of the same. This hopefully this it turns out positive, you know, work during the third quarter. Um, and so that certainly was good information to have, you know, for this game, Um, and, you know, we played guys longer than we probably would have otherwise. You're asking questions that are there beyond anything that I've been told. Um, I'm sure that the league is doing a very deep dive into the appropriate next steps. And, um, and we'll just wait to hear when I heard Michael Finley saw the announcement, and I was just stunned. I mean, it was just like, um, you know, I have the same life is half random, and this is the random side where, you know, it takes twists and turns, and this is something out of a movie, and you just don't expect it to happen in real life, but that's the randomness of of of the world we live in. And so it's stunning. But we are where we are, and we have to be smart and how we respond. This is people's lives at stake. This isn't about basketball. This isn't about the Mavericks. This isn't about, you know. When do we start or do we start or how do we start? This is This is a pandemic of global pandemic where people's lives are at stake in, You know, I'm hot for worried about my kids and my mom, who's 82 years old, you know, and talking to her and telling her to stay in the house. Then I am about when we play the next game, that look, we have a lot of flexibility. I don't want to speak for Adam or the MBA, but in terms of the MBA basketball side of this, we have a lot of flexibility because there's nothing that happens after June 12th when we typically under season. So you know, it's more important for us to get it right

The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being.Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive Wednesday, according to ESPN and reports.Teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive for coronavirus, an ESPN reporter tweeted Thursday. “The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. Eastern. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances."Those circumstances were the league’s worst-case scenario for now — a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that timeframe is very fluid.For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, which declared a pandemic on Wednesday, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.It has been a worldwide issue for several weeks. And now, it has hit the NBA.Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego, speaking before his team played at Miami on Wednesday — where news of the shutdown broke during the fourth quarter — said “these are scary times.”The NBA’s movement toward empty arenas in the short term came on the same day that the NCAA announced that the men’s and women’s Division I tournaments would be played without fans — except for a few family members — permitted inside to watch.“People are clearly taking the measures that they feel they need to take for safety,” said Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson, who played in both the Division I and Division III national championship games during his college days at Michigan and Williams.“There’s people a lot higher up than ourselves in this locker room who have the information and the knowledge to make those types of decisions,” Robinson said. “In terms of if that were to happen here ... we love playing in front of our fans and we feel like that gives us an advantage. But at the same time the NBA has to protect its players in the league and the fans.”Things have clearly been trending toward empty arenas for some time, and it was abundantly clear Wednesday morning when the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a Congressional committee that he would recommend the NBA not allow fans at games in response to the coronavirus.Dr. Anthony Fauci was responding to a question asked by Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, “is the NBA underreacting or is the Ivy League overreacting?” Grothman was referencing how the Ivy League recently canceled its basketball tournaments, instead of having them without fans or keeping the status quo.“We would recommend that there not be large crowds,” Fauci said. “If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.”The NBA's official minor league organization, the NBA G League, announced Thursday it would also be suspending its season."In response to the coronavirus pandemic and following the NBA’s announcement tonight that it is suspending game play, the NBA G League has also suspended the 2019-20 season, effective after tonight’s games," the league said in a statement.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being.

Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive Wednesday, according to ESPN and reports.

Teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive for coronavirus, .

“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. Eastern. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Rick Bowmer / AP Photo

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances."

Those circumstances were the league’s worst-case scenario for now — a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that timeframe is very fluid.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, which declared a pandemic on Wednesday, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

It has been a worldwide issue for several weeks. And now, it has hit the NBA.

Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego, speaking before his team played at Miami on Wednesday — where news of the shutdown broke during the fourth quarter — said “these are scary times.”

The NBA’s movement toward empty arenas in the short term came on the same day that the NCAA announced that the men’s and women’s Division I tournaments would be played without fans — except for a few family members — permitted inside to watch.

“People are clearly taking the measures that they feel they need to take for safety,” said Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson, who played in both the Division I and Division III national championship games during his college days at Michigan and Williams.

“There’s people a lot higher up than ourselves in this locker room who have the information and the knowledge to make those types of decisions,” Robinson said. “In terms of if that were to happen here ... we love playing in front of our fans and we feel like that gives us an advantage. But at the same time the NBA has to protect its players in the league and the fans.”

Things have clearly been trending toward empty arenas for some time, and it was abundantly clear Wednesday morning when the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a Congressional committee that he would recommend the NBA not allow fans at games in response to the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was responding to a question asked by Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, “is the NBA underreacting or is the Ivy League overreacting?” Grothman was referencing how the Ivy League recently canceled its basketball tournaments, instead of having them without fans or keeping the status quo.

“We would recommend that there not be large crowds,” Fauci said. “If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.”

The NBA's official minor league organization, the , announced Thursday it would also be suspending its season.

"In response to the coronavirus pandemic and following the NBA’s announcement tonight that it is suspending game play, the NBA G League has also suspended the 2019-20 season, effective after tonight’s games," the league said in a statement.

NBA G League To Suspend 2019-20 Season
— NBA G League (@nbagleague)

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