NBA fans and players found themselves bombarded with news related to the coronavirus Wednesday night as cities and sports teams all over announced their course of action in response to the pandemic.
A chronological sampling of events from the day that was Wednesday, March 11. pic.twitter.com/0ez6Oi9Mgv
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) March 12, 2020
But for the NBA, it began when players from the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder went to their respective locker rooms to suit up for the Monday game. Less than 30 minutes later, the matchup was postponed right before tip-off. It was all chaos thereafter.
A timeline of the NBA shutdown today: pic.twitter.com/RQde9uupS8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 12, 2020
Shortly after the postponement, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. According to Royce Young, he never went inside the arena, but was in Oklahoma City.
Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert has tested positive for coronavirus, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
Sources say Gobert is feeling good, strong and stable — and was feeling strong enough to play tonight.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
I've been told that Rudy Gobert was never at the arena tonight, but he was in OKC. If he had been cleared of the virus, he was set to play.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) March 12, 2020
However, NBA fans were barely given the chance to process the news and its implications. Less than five minutes later, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported an unprecedented suspension of the NBA season.
The NBA has suspended the season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
Postponements of upcoming games immediately followed, while some that were ongoing were allowed to finish. Matchups who were played Wednesday night were Pistons-76ers, Knicks-Hawks, Hornets-Heat, and Nuggets-Mavericks. The remaining Pelicans-Kings game, meanwhile, was also postponed following the suspension.
After initial reports, both OKC and Utah players were quarantined. The Thunder left the arena afterwards, but the Jazz are still quarantined in the city. They will need to coordinate with public health organizations before returning to Utah.
The Jazz will need to coordinate with Oklahoma and Salt Lake City public health organizations before they can return to Utah, per sources. For now, the team is quarantined in OKC. https://t.co/OiKShfsyRa
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
On the other hand, organizations who played with Utah within the past ten days took swift action. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, players from the Cavaliers, Knicks, Celtics, Pistons, and Raptors were told to self-quarantine.
Most recently, the NBA G-League has also suspended their 2019-20 in response to the coronavirus situation.
— Tisha Thompson (@TishaESPN) March 12, 2020
It is unknown what follows after the unprecedented suspension, but it is clear that the league primarily wants to minimize the virus from spreading across hundreds of its players.
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