NBA suspends season
MIAMI — The NBA has suspended its season “until further notice” after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came hours after 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. A source said Jazz centre Rudy Gobert has tested positive for the virus.
“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 6:30 p.m. PDT. “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 source said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that timeframe is very fluid.
“It’s a very serious time right now,” Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we’ll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here.”
Utah’s last game was Monday at home against the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors beat the Jazz 101-92 to wrap up their five-game road trip.
ESPN reported players from teams that played the Jazz within the past 10 days have been told to self-quarantine.
The Jazz released a statement saying their player tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and a respiratory infection. That player’s symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.
“The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City,” the Jazz said.
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.
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.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he was stunned when the news came down, adding “this is much bigger than basketball.”
“This is a global pandemic where people’s lives at stake,” Cuban said. “I’m a lot more worried about my kids, and my mom is 82 years old, and talking to her, and telling her to stay in the house, than I am about when we play our next game.”
About 4 p.m. PDT, a source told AP owners — who met by teleconference Wednesday — were largely in support of a plan to play games in empty arenas.
About an hour later, the Thunder-Jazz game was halted before tip-off. And about 90 minutes after that, the season was called off.
If the regular season ends here, it would be the end of Atlanta guard Vince Carter’s 22year playing career. And just in case this was it, the Hawks put Carter in with 19.5 seconds left in overtime in what was already clearly going to be a loss to New York.
Carter took an open 3-pointer and made it — the Knicks, aware of the moment, didn’t defend him either — and celebrated with Hawks teammates afterward after what may be the final shot of his career.
“A weird, but cool memory,” Carter said.
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