The first domino fell to start a typical day with NBA games scheduled in the foreseeable future.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a ban on all events larger than 1,000 people across the city Wednesday on Twitter. The ban will apply to all events at Chase Center, including Golden State Warriors games, the Chronicle reported.
Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets will be played without fans, the Warriors confirmed in a statement. All paying fans will receive refunds.
That same evening all the dominoes had fallen. A shocking turn of events all within the space of about two hours, with some games played, some canceled.
The coronavirus pandemic grappling the NBA, leading the season to be suspended.
The NBA released a statement announcing “that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, tonight’s game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena.”
Two-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert is the Jazz player.
The NBA continued in their statement, “suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Man we cancelling sporting events, school, office work, etc etc. What we really need to cancel is 2020! 🤦🏾♂️. Damn it’s been a rough 3 months. God bless and stay safe🙏🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 12, 2020
“Our locker room is still stunned,” Miami Head head coach Erik Spoelstra said after loss to Charlotte Hornets. “This is a very serous time right now, the league moved appropriately.”
Moments after the conclusion of the Dallas Mavericks win over the Denver Nuggets, the game scheduled to be played between the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings was canceled.
“The National Basketball Association game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings scheduled for tonight at Golden 1 Center has been canceled. The game was canceled out of an abundance of caution because one of the referees assigned to work in the game also worked a Utah Jazz game earlier this week. Earlier tonight, the NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.”
“You get concerned for what’s going on not just here in the NBA but the entire world,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone shared after loss to the Mavericks.
Gobert shared the basketball floor with 34 different players since Friday.
Also Wednesday, the NBA G League announced in a statement that it has “suspended the 2019-20 season, effective after tonight’s games.”
Players from teams the Jazz have played within the past ten days were told to self-quarantine, reported by ESPN. Those teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors.
The NBA is expected to address the next steps with teams when it conducts a call with the board of governors at 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported.
“We have great leadership in the NBA it is important we follow their lead,” Sixers General Manager Elton Brand said after win over the Pistons. “It is important that fans, players, coaching staff, and our staff remain healthy, and we do everything we can.”
Dominoes have fallen, next to fall are potentially bricks.
Photo/RudyGobert/twitter
