NBA commi sioner Adam Silver knewthe spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)could shut down the 2019-20 season, but even he probably didn't expect the situation to escalate this quickly.
In the middle of Wednesday night's slate of games, the NBA indefinitely after a Jazz playertested positive for the coronavirus. The shocking news coincided withreports indicatingAll-Star center RudyGobertwas the NBA's patient zero.
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The league's board of governors had earlier Wednesday to continue playing games without fans in attendance, but that plan becameunrealistic following Gobert's diagnosis. Now the NBA finds itself paralyzed by thepandemic with more questions than answers.
Here's how the NBA arrived at itsdecisionand what could happen next with the season on hold.
What happened during the Jazz vs. Thunder game?
Only moments before the Jazz and Thunder were set to tip off around 8 p.m. ETin Oklahoma City, Thunder director of medical services Donnie Strackran out to the court and spoke with the officiating crew. Refereesthen called over Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Thunder coach Billy Donovan to discu s the Jimmy Graham Jersey delay, and both Snyder and Donovaneventually parted ways and left Akiem Hicks Jersey the floor with their teams.
At about 8:40 p.m. ET, the Thunder's public addre s announcer told the OKC crowdthe gamehad been postponed but added, "You are all safe."
Breaking: The Thunder-Jazz game has been postponed to a later date, per the NBA.
SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)
Fans were able to leave Chesapeake Energy Arena following the announcement and did so without incident. Arena employees immediately began disinfecting team benches.
At 9:27p.m. ET, reported that Goberthad tested positive for the coronavirus. Only minutes later, the NBAsent out an official statement saying the league would be suspending the season and using the hiatus to "determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."
Jazz and Thunder players were kept quarantined in their locker rooms for a few hours. Thunder players were not tested for the coronavirus, according to , but they did have a fever test done before being sent home. Oklahoma health officials tested Jazz players for the coronavirus in the locker room, per Young.
Team buses for the Jazzappeared to finally leavethe arena after 2 a.m. ET. It was unclear if all Jazz players were on those buses or whether they would be able to travel Rodney Adams Jersey back to Utah together.
The Jazz team buses just pulled out leaving the arena. Might be hard to see, but Donovan Mitchell was waving.
Royce Young (@royceyoung)
According to sources, the Jazz will be staying tonight in OKC at a hotel, and then pending the overnight results of the virus testing, will make plans on how to travel back to Salt Lake. Which could include a positive test charter plane and a negative charter plane.
Royce Young (@royceyoung)
Thursday morning that Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has also tested positive for the coronavirus. Mitchell was the only other Jazz player or personnel memberto test positive for the virus, .
"As a follow-up to yesterday's positive COVID-19 test, Oklahoma health officials tested all members of the Utah Jazz traveling party, confirming one additional positive outcome for a Jazz player,". "We are working closely with the CDC, Oklahoma and Utah State officials, and the NBA to monitor their health and determine the best path moving forward."
Mitchell confirmed his test results Jesper Horsted Jersey with a post on Instagram.
"Thanks to everyone who has been reaching out since hearing the news about my positive test," Mitchell wrote."We are all learning more about the seriousne s of this situation and hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them.
"I appreciate the authorities in Oklahoma who were helpful with the testing proce s and everyone from the@utahjazzwho have been so supportive. I am going to keep following the advice of our medical staff and hope that we can all come together and be there for each other and our neighbors who need our help."
A post shared by (@spidadmitchell) on Mar 12, 2020 at 10:20am PDT
What is Rudy Gobert's health status?
Gobert was listed as questionable (illne s) for Wednesday's gameon the . The Jazz centerfelt "strong and stable," according to , and he was hoping to play against the Thunder.
Instead, Gobertwas held out of action and never entered the arena, though he was in Oklahoma City. The Jazz said that a player (they didn't identify Breshad Perriman Jersey the player as Gobert)had "tested negative for influenza, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection" and atest for COVID-19came back positive "right before tipoff" of the Jazz-Thunder game.
"We are working closely with the CDC, Oklahoma and Utah state officials and the NBA to determine how to best move forward as we gather more information," the statement read."The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City. Incoordination with the NBA and state officials, we will provide updates at theappropriate time."
Gobert is 27 years old and in peak physical condition, so the coronavirus doesn't pose the same health risks to him. He should be able to recover without any long-term i sues, but the main concern is obviously how the virus could spread considering 34 different players have shared the floor with Gobert since Friday.
All 30 NBA teams can be connected in just the last 5 days.The NBA made the right decision to suspend this season.
StatMuse (@statmuse)
Gobertpublicly addre sed his positive coronavirustest in anInstagram post on Thursday, saying he has felt "fear, anxiety and embarra sment" since learning his diagnosis. Hefaced plenty of criticism for his flippant attitude toward the pandemic. Gobertjokingly of reporters days earlier, and he had reportedly been "carele s in the locker room" about touching the belongings of other players, according to .
"I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of concern and support over the last 24 hours," Gobert wrote."I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis mostly fear, anxiety, and embarra sment. The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even Nick Foles Jersey infected. I was carele s and make no excuse.
"I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously. I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of th
