The National Basketball Association (NBA) has suspended its season after the officials have found that a player of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus.
The basketball association said the test result came just before the tip-off of Wednesday’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Jazz. It said the player was not in the arena and the game was canceled.
According to Utah Jazz, the player, who is identified by multiple media outlets as Rudy Gobert, tested negative for the flu, strep throat, and upper respiratory infection.
Jazz said in a statement, “The individual’s symptoms diminished over the course of today, however, in a precautionary measure, and in consultation and cooperation with NBA medical staff and Oklahoma health officials, the decision was made to test for COVID-19.”
Eventually, the NBA suspended all play at the conclusion of the game between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks.
Mark Cuban, the Mavericks owner, was visibly shocked when he learned the news. He told ESPN, “This is crazy. This can’t be true. I mean, it’s not within the realm of possibilities. This seems more like out of [a] movie than reality.”
“It’s really not about basketball or money,” he added. “[If] this thing is just exploding to the point where all of a sudden players and others have had it, you think about your family. Now, it’s just more personal.”
Also, the game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings was postponed just before tip-off.
The association said it would use the suspension to determine “next steps” in order to control the coronavirus pandemic.
The NBA’s announcement came the same day as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the suspension of college basketball fans from attending the upcoming tournaments.
NCAA president Mark Emmert said, “This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.”
Sports leagues across the work are under tremendous pressure to cancel games or ban spectators altogether. That’s because the coronavirus spreads from person to person through close contact. This “community spreading” has increased the number of cases in the United States.
