Like most NBA fans, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri is missing basketball. So much so that Ujiri joked he's basically stalking Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's top infectious disease experts, like a potential NBA Draft pick.
Ujiri made his remark during a conference call on Wednesday. Interestingly, he also noted that there have been no discussions about a contract extension for him or Raptors head coach Nick Nurse:
Masai is on a conference call: Says extensions for him and Nurse haven’t been discussed, and it’s not the time. “I miss the game, man."
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 1, 2020
Masai: “I’m basically stalking Dr. Fauci like he’s the next NBA draft pick."
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 1, 2020
Midway through March, the NBA announced that it would be suspending the 2019-20 regular season due to ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first confirmed case on March 11. His teammate, Donovan Mitchell, was diagnosed shortly after. Since then, several other players and staffers throughout the NBA landscape have tested positive.
At this point, it's not clear when this season might resume. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was recently more optimistic about games returning soon, but now he's changing his tune:
“I have no idea,” Cuban said Wednesday on ESPN. “I mean, the only thing I know is that we're going to put safety first and we're not going to take any chances. We're not going to do anything that risks the health of our players, our fans, our staff, the whole organization. So right now, I really don't have anything new to say.”
Members of the Raptors were tested for COVID-19 in mid-March, shortly after playing Gobert and the Jazz. As part of an official statement, the team announced that their test results came back negative:
Good news from the Raptors. Final coronavirus covid-19 test was negative. No one tested positive. pic.twitter.com/HbpmtMUatS
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) March 14, 2020
Raptors fans were particularly concerned about Serge Ibaka, as he guarded Gobert that night. Furthermore, Ibaka practiced his ball kissing routine after a made free throw:
Here is Serge Ibaka kissing the basketball after Rudy Gobert’s free throw attempt on Monday😬pic.twitter.com/GvOYgxetL8
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 12, 2020
Luckily, Ibaka's test came back negative.
The Raptors entered the NBA's hiatus with a 46-18 record, good for second place in the Eastern Conference.
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