1. Coronavirus
In this year of all years, there is an overarching storyline that wipes away all others. The global turmoil resulting from coronavirus and COVID-19 reached America. On March 11th we realized the NBA was the first to comprehend the scope of impact when Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19 right before tip against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The game was delayed for half an hour before The Athletic’s Shams Charania announced that Gobert had indeed tested positive. Four minutes later, he tweeted that the NBA was indefinitely suspending its season.
Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert has tested positive for coronavirus, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
Sources say Gobert is feeling good, strong and stable — and was feeling strong enough to play tonight.
The NBA has suspended its season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2020
We’re coming up on the one-month mark of the suspension and we have no more clarity now about when or even if the season will restart. The health of players, employees and the public greatly outweighs any ambitions to get back in action, and as things stand right now, they don’t look great.
The NBA had been hoping to follow in the steps of the Chinese Basketball Association which had suspended its own season months ago, but the CBA hit a roadblock when the Chinese government indefinitely suspended all sports once again due to concerns over asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19.
These are uncharted waters for the NBA and the world at large, and truly nobody knows how things will play out or when the league will be back in action.