March 11, 2020

NBA Suspends Season Because of Coronavirus: The NBA is suspending its season until further notice after tonight's game in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The news follows an announcement Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus Wednesday night. "Bottom line,'' Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, "we will put the safety of our fans and customers first."

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:52 PM - 18 comments

Once the 1st case of COVID-19 was diagnosed among the players, the league was left with no real choice but to cancel. The fans in the arenas might have been in danger, but an active case places every player in the league at risk. Add to this the players' families, the officials, coaches, and all staff, and you are now facing a catastrophe.

From a purely selfish viewpoint, I am curious about what sort of settlement will be made for season ticket members. I am sure there will be something on the order of credit for next year's season tickets, added seats for some games next year, or the like. Mostly I will be praying for Rudy Gobert, his teammates, family, and all who might be affected.

posted by Howard_T at 10:06 PM on March 11, 2020

posted by grum@work at 12:35 AM on March 12, 2020

A second Jazz player has tested positive.

posted by NoMich at 11:13 AM on March 12, 2020

It will be interesting all the asterisks and footnotes that will be associated with this time in sports history.

  • NBA Suspends Season
  • McLaren withdrawal from Australian GP
  • Ivy League cancel tournament
  • Sports on hold until April in Italy
  • Harvard, and lots of other schools, canceling sports team travel
  • National youth soccer tournaments canceled

These are all headlines, I quickly found. What to say about the NCAA and NAIA basketball, hockey, and wrestling tournaments, Masters golf tournament, and much more.

posted by prof at 11:13 AM on March 12, 2020

NCAA says all events will be held but with minimal audiences (media, some immediate family).

posted by billsaysthis at 11:19 AM on March 12, 2020

ATP now has suspended its schedule through April 20, shortly after local officials cancelled the Miami Open and the Indian Walls tournament was cancelled.

Six English Premier League players - three from Leicester City - are isolated after exhibiting symptoms

posted by jjzucal at 11:35 AM on March 12, 2020

The Players is taking place today in Jacksonville Beach, though they just decided to disallow spectators.

posted by rcade at 11:44 AM on March 12, 2020

MLS suspends season.

posted by rcade at 11:59 AM on March 12, 2020

ACC calls it a tournament, gives FSU the championship trophy since they won the regular season standings

posted by NoMich at 12:41 PM on March 12, 2020

It sounds like the NHL is about to do the same thing

posted by NoMich at 01:44 PM on March 12, 2020

It's official, the NHL has suspended the season.

My opinion: shut it down until the playoffs normally start and the standings as they are today are your playoff teams.

posted by NoMich at 02:14 PM on March 12, 2020

I read something today (source unidentified) that said that the average regular season NBA game takes in about 1.2 million in gate attendance, and playoff games about 2 million. Figuring in the number of regular season games remaining, and using an average of 83 playoff games in the past few years, the hit will come to nearly 500 million. This is gate receipts only. When you add in the beer and foam finger sales, it gets pretty heavy. Something will be done to preserve as much as they can but nobody knows what yet.

posted by Howard_T at 04:58 PM on March 12, 2020

NCAA has cancelled the entire tournament. Reigning champs for another year!

posted by LionIndex at 06:33 PM on March 12, 2020

We've gone from Pack Line to PICC Line.

And thanks to NoMich, Roy Williams now has a lien on my house due to my not being able to cash in on that surefire UNC tournament bid.

posted by beaverboard at 07:34 PM on March 12, 2020

He seems like a cool landlord tho

posted by NoMich at 08:21 PM on March 12, 2020

Was watching the Jets vs Oilers last night when the news dropped. Saw a clip of Gobert mocking the situation and my first thought was this douche bag is as bad as one of our current "leaders".

In a strange way Rudy's illness has resulted in much greater focus on the current world wide dilemma than any other individual to date. Major sports leagues have taken a leadership position as a result.

Thanks, Rudy. Thanks to Bill Self who has a championship squad but understands what really matters. Thanks to Coach K who backs the decision. Thanks to the NBA, NFL, and MLB executive. These are our real leaders.

posted by cixelsyd at 11:08 PM on March 12, 2020

The Hurricanes played in Detroit the day after the Jazz played there. The Hurricanes' play by play guy, John Forslund, stayed in the same room that Gobert and Mitchell stayed in.

posted by NoMich at 10:27 AM on March 13, 2020

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