There is no doubt that there are serious health concerns globally at the moment. Earlier on Wednesday. the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus was indeed a pandemic, and according to Leslie Young of Global News, there are now 118 countries effected. On Wednesday night, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban described his reaction to the fact that the NBA was having to put its season on hiatus because Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for coronavirus, “it seemed more like out of a movie than reality.”
Also in the interview with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, Cuban mentioned “potentially a couple of players have it,” meaning that it might have spread past Gobert. On Thursday, we found out that was indeed the case. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Sports Illustrated, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has the Coronavirus as well. Jazz point guard Emmanuel Mudiay was also ill on Wednesday and was tested for Coronavirus, but we are not sure as of yet what his results were.
On Wednesday, Utah was about to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. However right before tipoff, Thunder head medical staffer Donnie Strack ran on to the basketball court to speak to officials. Moments later the game was postponed.
In an unprecedented move later on Wednesday, the NBA has reached the conclusion that the season would be suspended indefinitely after Wednesday night’s games. All teams that have recently been in contact with the Jazz, are now expected to self-quarantine for the next two weeks. Those teams include players on the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. Clearly, the NBA had no choice but to indefinitely stop the season.
It should also be noted that later on Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings were set to host the New Orleans Pelicans. However that game was not played either. That is because the Pelicans were uncomfortable playing the game due to the fact that referee Courtney Kirkland had been a referee for the Jazz game against the Raptors on Monday.
