An NBA season marked by unprecedented shocks is coming to a halt after a player tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19.
The NBA announced Wednesday night that it will suspend the season after a player — Jazz C Rudy Gobert, according to Yahoo! Sports reporter Shams Charania and ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski — has tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19.
The league-wide suspension is a first in league history. Major League Baseball and the NFL were among the leagues to postpone a week of games following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. MLB halted the 1989 World Series for ten days after an earthquake devastated the Bay Area, home to the two participating teams.
The league says the suspension will last “until further notice.” The NBA Playoffs is scheduled to begin April 18. The latest start to an NBA Playoffs was May 8 in 1999, following a lockout-shortened season that began in February.
Wednesday’s Jazz-Thunder game was postponed and Utah players remained quarantined in Oklahoma City as of early Thursday morning. Pelicans-Kings was also postponed because a referee who had contact with Gobert on Monday was assigned to work the game. ESPN was set to air Pelicans-Kings and went into rolling breaking news coverage on SportsCenter after the game was called off.
There were 34 more NBA games scheduled for ESPN, ABC or TNT this season. TNT was set to carry Celtics-Bucks and Rockets-Lakers on Thursday night. ABC had Warriors-Bucks scheduled for Saturday and Rockets-Blazers on Sunday. ESPN was to air Nuggets-Lakers after NCAA Tournament Selection Show coverage Sunday night.
The news is the latest shock in an NBA season unlike any other. There was the preseason international incident with China, which saw the league buffeted by Chinese boycotts on one side and criticism from U.S. politicians on the other. There was the sudden death of former commissioner David Stern on New Year’s Day.
Finally, there was the still-surreal death of Kobe Bryant in a January 26 helicopter crash that also killed his daughter Gigi and seven others. That tragedy was responsible for the previous postponement of an NBA game, Clippers-Lakers on January 28. That game, which was rescheduled for April 4, will no doubt have to be rescheduled again, if played at all.
On the far more trivial side, there were the injuries to Zion Williamson and Stephen Curry, and a season-long slide in television ratings.
If the season is truly over, it will not be soon forgotten — or recovered from.
[News from NBA]
