Pau Gasol shared his thoughts on the coronavirus situation the entire world is facing right now in a piece for The Players Tribune. In his reflection, the two-time NBA champion ended his piece with a brutally honest conclusion.

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But for millions of people around the world, the coronavirus pandemic isn’t just a news story. It’s frighteningly close and deadly serious.

Gasol shared about how quickly all of this went down. One day, we were going on business as usual. The next day, we were asked to self-quarantine, stay at home, to prevent the further spread of the virus.

It has been over three weeks since the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season due to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19. The NBA has since been thinking of how to go about the remainder of the season. Certainly, this has had a massive impact on the sports world, including the NBA.

However, as Gasol said, this pandemic is very serious and it is affecting millions of people all over the world. Over 1.2 million people have been infected with the disease, while nearly 66,000 have succumbed to the deadly virus. Others, meanwhile, are losing their jobs and livelihoods because businesses are forced to shut down due to the respective quarantines happening all over the globe.

NBA players have been doing their part by helping in any way they can. Some have donated to their respective communities, while others have used their voices and platforms to raise awareness.

Wash your hands, practice social distancing, and avoid large crowds – these are the main messages we see all over the news over the past weeks. However, as simple as these may be, it's more of a privilege for some people. For others in different parts of the globe, unfortunately, they don't have the choice to practice social distancing, to avoid people, simply because they don't have the means to.

Certainly, the world is in trying times right now. As Gasol said, all we can do is to fight this thing together in our own little ways.