It was a relatively normal day around the NBA when fans, players, and coaches woke up this morning – as far as normal by the NBA’s standard goes. Things began to shake up when Connor Letourneau reported that the mayor of San Francisco banned public gatherings of over 1000 people, which would effectively affect Warriors games. The bombshell dropped when ESPN’s Marc Stein confirmed that the Warriors would play their game on Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets closed to fans.
Things then ramped up even further when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the NBA’s board of governors would have a call with the league office this afternoon to determine the route of action going forward with regards to the Coronavirus. One of two options were inevitable to happen by Thursday morning; either all games would be played with no fans in attendance, or the NBA season would be suspended.
What was already wild only got wilder.
The Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder were seconds away from tipping off before Oklahoma City’s medical doctor sprinted out onto the court to alarm the referees of crucial information, which caused all players and officials to move back into the locker room.
Fans waited in the arena for approximately 30 minutes before they were told that the game was postponed, and that they should go home.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz has tested The Utah Jazz positive for COVID-19. Subsequently, the NBA has decided to suspend the remainder of the 2019-2020 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The NBA has suspended its season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
Jokingly, just yesterday Rudy Gobert thought it would be funny to touch every mic in the media room. Prior to tonight’s game, he was ruled out with illness. Now, karma has slapped him in the face, and anyone with any tie to NBA basketball is left in shambles.
Rudy Gobert thought it was funny to touch every single mic and recorder in the media room.
Now, he has Coronavirus and the entire NBA season is suspendedpic.twitter.com/A22U5AgmBi
— Sports ReUp (@SportsReUp) March 12, 2020
The implications of this are unknown, but one thing we’re sure of is that they’re massive. They’re transcendent. They could literally hit home, given that the Toronto Raptors played Rudy Gobert and the Jazz just a couple of nights ago. For now, all we know, is that there is no more NBA basketball for the foreseeable future.
The NBA used to be a fairytale getaway from the real world for most basketball fans, but after the death of Kobe Bryant, and now the season shutting down, it seems as though the tragedies of the real world have converged on our sanctuary.
