The NBA suspends the 2020 season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus. As the disease continues to spread around the world, it's having a major impact on the entertainment industry. No Time to Die's premiere was pushed back to November 2020 amidst concerns and both SXSW and E3 were officially cancelled. Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con has been postponed until the summer. Earlier today, it was announced late night talk shows would stop filming with live audiences. And now, coronavirus is starting to have an affect on the sports world.
Tonight, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBA has suspended the season. Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, the decision was made after Jazz center Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. The Utah/Oklahoma City game scheduled for tonight was postponed due to Gobert exhibiting symptoms of an illness. Check out the tweets and the NBA's official statement in the space below.
Update: The NCAA announced the cancelation of the men's and women's basketball championship tournaments, and other winter and spring sport championships:
Wojnarowski added the NBA "will use the hiatus to determine next steps moving forward." Most will be in agreement suspending the season was the best decision. As everyone learns more about the coronavirus pandemic, it isn't right to put people at risk unnecessarily. There was talk the NBA could continue playing the games as scheduled in empty arenas, but Gobert's positive test changed all that. Obviously, it is unknown how long the hiatus will be. At the time of this announcement, there was about a month left in the regular season, with the playoffs set to begin April 18. It will be interesting to see if other sports leagues follow suit with similar suspensions. MLB's Opening Day for the 2020 regular season is Thursday, March 26 and the NHL regular season is ongoing.
Earlier this week, Gobert made light of coronavirus by touching all microphones and recorders during a media session. As of this writing, the Jazz and Thunder players are in quarantine at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena and will undergo testing.
Source: NBA, Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charaina