The season has been suspended for the time being.
(PHOTO CREDIT: SB Nation.)
The NBA season has been suspended because of the Coronavirus pandemic. All games will be stopped after tonight’s schedule is over.
Actually, as soon as Rudy Gobert, who was said to be ill before the game, was tested positive for Coronavirus. He recklessly touched mics days before and that just caused a ripple effect.
Here’s Rudy Gobert touching a bunch of reporters’ audio equipment 2 days ago. Today, he tested positive for coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/Z3Lw1yfCfW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 12, 2020
Now everyone around him and whoever played the Jazz in the last two weeks or so will have to get tested.
This was also the scene before the Jazz/Thunder game was postponed.
Breaking: The Thunder-Jazz game has been postponed to a later date, per the NBA. pic.twitter.com/4z8liN5Kra
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2020
Apparently, the Thunder head medical staffer Donnie Strack SPRINTED to the floor before tipoff was about to commence. Then everyone on the court was pulled off and the postponement was announced minutes later. And now we’re in this bizarre moment in time where the NBA season is suspended because of a pandemic.
It doesn’t mean the season is cancelled. However:
Per Dan Woike, via mass text: “The suspension is indefinite, but from what I was told by a league official earlier this week, a player testing positive would mean everything goes on pause (at minimum) for a month.”
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) March 12, 2020
I think even before Rudy tested positive, the season was probably going to stop operations, anyway. There was already talk of games being played with no fans. A big pro tennis tournament was already cancelled. Some regions in the country have already banned “non-essential” gatherings of a thousand people. March Madness games are going to be played in front of no fans but now there is probably a lot of pressure for those games to get cancelled after this incident. A lot of conferences and conventions have already been postponed/cancelled. WrestleMania, the annual spring extravaganza, might get postponed/cancelled, too.
In the meantime, I ask all of you to stay safe, quarantine yourself if you’re feeling sick, follow all the health experts, and don’t dismiss this as anything minor. Best-case scenario is that this get contained within a month or two, we do the same for the fall flu season, and there’s a vaccine in a year or two. But right now? Just please don’t be reckless.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.