No NBA, What Now?

With Coronavirus taking over, the NBA has decided to postpone the season until further notice. Last week, we saw Rudy Gobert act recklessly at a press conference, touching all the microphones of the reporters as he was leaving the stand. Shortly after Gobert was diagnosed with Coronavirus, his teammate, Donovan Mitchell, also tested positive. It is more than likely that Gobert transferred the virus to Mitchell. Following the diagnoses of these two Utah Jazz players, Christian Wood, a recently acquired center for the Detroit Pistons also tested positive for Coronavirus. A few days prior, Gobert and Wood were matched up during the game between the Jazz and the Pistons. As for now, these are the only three players that have tested positive, and hopefully it will stay this way. All players have been instructed to self-quarantine for the time being, which will discourage the spread of the virus among active players.

Teammates Donovan Mitchell (left,) and Rudy Gobert (right,) who've both tested positive for COVID-19.

With all of this commotion occurring in the league, many of the players have decided to take action and help the cause. Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have donated upwards of  $100,000 to help surrounding schools and arena staff. The biggest gesture from any player came from stand-out rookie, Zion Williamson. Williamson vowed to pay the salaries of all Smoothie King Center employees for the next 30 days. This is a huge gesture from a rookie, which also sparks controversy over why the NBA’s youngest players are taking action, and not the billionaire owners across the league. An exception is Mark Cuban, who was interviewed directly after finding out about the league’s cancellation. One of the first things on his mind was the fact that all the employees for the arenas across the league would be without work. On the spot, he conceived a plan where a program should be developed to help pay these employees for their missed time. He has done so already, and has reimbursed his employees.

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

So, ladies and gentlemen, get ready for a sports-less landscape for longer than initially hoped. Federal officials recommended this past Sunday that all events with 50 or more people, for the next eight weeks, be avoided. In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, NBA owners and executives are bracing for a best case return to resume play in mid-June, and a worst case of an entirely lost season, according to ESPN. Anybody who wasn’t taking it seriously, is now. The NBA, NHL and MLS had all suspended play for 30 days, and Major League Baseball essentially followed suit, canceling the remainder of spring training and pushing back Opening Day two weeks, to April 9. However, that is very optimistic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with recommendations Sunday night that would effectively close pro sports deep into May, and possibly beyond. All we can hope for as fans is for the U.S. government and the CDC to handle the situation as best as possible, and hope for a return as soon as it’s safe.