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The Golden State Warriors have defied calls from the city of San Francisco to cancel games in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin told Mission Local that he had spoken with Warriors CEO Rick Welts to “voluntarily” cancel games before they ordered it.
“I have expressed my desire that they do this voluntarily before, in the days ahead, we do it as an emergency public health order. It’s not a matter of ‘if.’ It’s a matter of ‘when.’ I hope they come to that conclusion before we make them come to that conclusion,” Peskin said.
The Warriors hosted the Toronto Raptors at the Chase Center last Thursday. On Friday, the Mayor's office released recommendations to prevent against the spread of the coronavirus, which included “canceling non-essential events…such as concerts, sporting events, conventions or large community events.”
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The mayor's office described the Warriors' response to the guidelines as “thanks for the recommendations.”
Chase Center remained open to the public on Saturday for the Warriors' contest against the Philadelphia 76ers, and the team's matchup on Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Clippers is set to proceed. The team did put up signs at the arena warning of the risks of entering the premises.
The mayor's office declined to say whether the city would take more aggressive measures to force the Dubs to adhere to the new policies, if need be. Various large-scale gatherings have been cancelled around the Bay Area.
The NBA community is preparing for more drastic preventative strategies to be implemented in the coming days, which could certainly include games being played without fans in attendance.
Sources: The NBA has sent a memo to its franchises explaining that, due to coronavirus outbreak, teams should be preparing to play games without fans in attendance and identifying “essential staff” present for these games — should it be necessary.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2020
