NBA fans weren’t ready for the basketball season to be over just yet, but officials are taking the Coronavirus very seriously. To protect the players, audience, and anyone involved in attending the games, NBA officials have decided to suspend the season.
The news came quickly on March 11 before the Jazz and Thunder could even play. They were cleared off the court without a full explanation from the coaches or referees. It was then announced that Utah’s player, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the virus.
It was known that Gobert was sick, but it hadn’t been confirmed to what the illness was. It was said that they were going to give their players a two-week break until making the big decision of what now is a 30-day suspension.
Gobert took to Twitter to express his apologies for possibly passing the virus to other players in the NBA and anyone else that he came in contact with.
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) March 12, 2020
The decision-maker Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, recently expressed that it was difficult to decide what to do. The NBA is usually big in March, and that would mean pushing everything back, even finals, but what mattered most was playing out the pandemic safely for the community. He also goes into detail on how the NBA is analyzing this concern.
As of right now, the NBA suspension is temporary, but it depends on how the world responds to the new virus after the 30 days have passed.