Coronavirus: NBA season suspended, Fed Cup finals off as world sport reacts to pandemic
Andrew Gaze has backed the NBA’s decision to halt its season with the playoffs approaching after Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for coronavirus. The player was slammed for a stupid act before the news broke.
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Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze has described the suspension of the NBA season as “gut-wrenching” and fears the AFL could soon be forced to take the similar action.
The NBA on Thursday (EDT) suspended all games indefinitely after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus.
The test result was reported shortly before Utah’s game against Oklahoma City, and that match was abruptly postponed.
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“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said.
“The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Gaze, who was an NBA champion in 1999 with San Antonio Spurs, said the league had made the right move but it did not make it any easier for fans.
“There are more important things than a basketball game,” Gaze said.
“We’ve got to be cautious because one of the stars of the competition has tested positive and the league has taken swift action to make sure they get it under control. It’s gut-wrenching because we love it so much and it’s an exciting stage of the season but we all understand the urgency of the situation over there right now.”
The NBA announces it has suspended the season following a positive COVID-19 test result for a Utah Jazz player. pic.twitter.com/59UjnoyKDO
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) March 12, 2020
The NBA playoffs are due to start in just on April 18.
Gaze said it was “absolutely a possibility” there would be no NBA Champion this year or that the season would have to be shortened, as it was during the lockout over a collective bargaining agreement for players in 1999.
Utah Jazz said Gobert had flu-like symptoms but initially tested negative for influenza and a respiratory infection.
The decision was then made to test again for COVID-19, for which the 27-year-old tested positive.
Two days before testing positive for the coronavirus, Gobert was captured pretending to cough and touch journalists’ recorders, phones and microphones, with American news editor Jason Schreier said Gobert “should be banned for life” for the prank.
The clip has since gone viral.
Team owners had been discussing on Wednesday local time how best the league should respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Six NBA games were scheduled for Wednesday and four were underway when the game in Oklahoma City was called off.
The Golden State Warriors confirmed they would host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday in San Francisco behind closed doors after San Francisco city officials announced a two-week ban on all gatherings of more than 1000 people.
The decision was made after the confusing scenes in Oklahoma City, where Jazz and Thunder players took the court to warm up, but shortly before the scheduled tip-off were sent to their locker rooms before police began to clear the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Mark Cuban reacts to the NBA suspending the season indefinitely because of the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/k0sttl50Eh
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 12, 2020
Shocked NBA coaches described the suspension of the season as “unprecedented”, while Dallas Mavericks guard JJ Barea labelled the situation “like a bad movie”.
“It’s unprecedented,” Detroit coach Dwayne Casey – whose Pistons fell to the 76ers in Philadelphia – said of the decision to suspend the season.
“I think it’s the prudent thing to do.”
But Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the coronavirus outbreak was much bigger than basketball.
“It’s a very serious time right now. I think the league moved appropriately,” he said.
Gobert’s teammate Emmanuel Mudiay was also listed as suffering from an undisclosed illness on the team’s injury report.
Here's Rudy Gobert on Monday touching all the microphones in the media room on purpose.
— matthew ashlock (@themattashlock) March 12, 2020
Here we are on Wednesday, and Rudy Gobert was just confirmed to have coronavirus, causing the NBA to suspend the season.
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/6BF7q3n9ao
Elsewhere, as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc with sporting calendars across the globe, Juventus and Italy defender Daniele Rugani became the first Serie A footballer to test positive for coronavirus, the Italian champions confirmed.
Juventus say the 25-year-old Rugani “is currently asymptomatic,” but the club is “currently activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including those who have had contact with him.”
Rugani is the first top-flight footballer to fall victim to the virus.
Juventus are due to host French club Lyon in a Champions League last 16, second leg clash behind closed doors in Turin next Wednesday morning (EDT).
All sports in Italy have been suspended until April 3, including Serie A football, but
Champions League and Europa League matches are under the jurisdiction of UEFA.
Australia’s participation at next month’s Fed Cup finals has also been put on ice after world tennis chiefs postponed the event in Hungary over coronavirus fears.
Alicia Molik’s team were a seeded country as a result of being last year’s beaten finalists and were drawn in group B against Belgium and Belarus in the group stage for this year’s competition.
The event was due to be played at Budapest’s Laszlo Papp Sport Arena from April 14-19.
However, a Hungarian government ruling against banned public gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors left the ruling body the International Tennis Federation (ITF) with little choice, it said in a statement.
The start of the Major League Baseball season later this month is likewise under threat. The Mariners will move home games out of Seattle through end of March following the state of Washington’s decision to ban large group events in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Seattle had been scheduled to open the season at T-Mobile Park with a four-game series against Texas from March 26-29, then host Minnesota in a three-game series from March 30 through April 1.
The Mariners said they are working with the commissioner’s office on alternative plans.
In Australia no major events have yet to be cancelled or postponed, with F1 race organisers still planning to go ahead with the Melbourne Grand Prix despite HAAS Formula One team confirming two more team members have been sent for precautionary coronavirus tests and put into isolation on Thursday.
A Haas spokesman said four team members in total had now been tested for the virus after showing cold-like symptoms. The team was still awaiting test results for them all.
It follows confirmation on Wednesday that two team members from Haas and one from McLaren were tested for the virus and placed into temporary quarantine.
McLaren said it was still awaiting results for the team member that was tested on Wednesday. The team was told a result could take anywhere between 24 and 78 hours.
Just one day before the Formula One cars are set to hit the rack at Albert Park circuit, the growing coronavirus threat has cast a cloud over the event.
Some Formula One teams have cancelled media commitments in a bid to protect the health of their drivers and key personnel.
Fans and drivers have been urged to avoid shaking hands at the Albert Park circuit and hand sanitiser and washing stations have been set up around the site.
Signs have been posted at the venue about hygiene and alerting spectators about where medical facilities are located. Caterers on site have also been ordered to increase cleaning, sanitising and hygiene checks.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia are continuing to watch developments ahead of a three match ODI series with New Zealand starting in Sydney on Friday, with that match, a second in Sydney on Sunday and next week in Hobart still set to go ahead at present.
The NRL have taken measures to limit contact between fans and players in a statement released to all 16 clubs on the eve of this year’s competition.
Originally published as Coronavirus: NBA season suspended, Fed Cup finals off as world sport reacts to pandemic