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NBA coronavirus shutdown likely to be ‘at least 30 days’ – Silver
LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – NBA commissioner Adam Silver said
Thursday the league shut-down because of the coronavirus pandemic is likely
to last “at least 30 days”.
That would see the league shuttered through what would have been about the
last month of its regular season.
“What we determined today is that this hiatus will be, most likely, at
least 30 days,” Silver said on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” program.
The NBA suspended play on Wednesday after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert
tested positive for COVID-19.
A second Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell, has reportedly also tested
positive.
The regular season was scheduled to end on April 15 with the playoffs to
begin on April 18.
Silver offered no indication of whether the league was considering
shortening either the regular season or the playoffs, and indeed said it was
hard to know at this point what the options might be.
Once the 30 days is up, he said, “the question becomes is there a protocol,
frankly, with or without fans, where we can resume play.”
Silver discussed the talks league officials, teams and players union
representatives were having before Gobert’s positive test about contingency
plans in the face of increased coronavirus incidence in the United States.
“Up to a few days ago or even yesterday, the experts were unclear as to
whether, as a public health matter, NBA arenas should be emptied,” he said.
On Wednesday league officials spoke with teams to get their views about the
possibility of playing games with no fans in the stands or taking “some kind
of hiatus.”
The decision ended up coming in dramatic style after Utah’s game against
the Thunder in Oklahoma City was called off just as it was due to start and
fans cleared from the arena.
Shortly thereafter the NBA announced that a Jazz player had tested positive
for COVID-19 and that games would be suspended from Thursday.
For the time being NBA players have reportedly been told to remain in their
team’s cities at least through Monday.
Group workouts and practice are not allowed, but team medical staff are in
touch with players.
– Economic impact –
Joe Lacob, the Golden State Warriors owner who has a masters degree from
the University of California at Los Angeles in public health said in an
interview with The Athletic that the eventual economic impact of the
coronavirus pandemic on the league is “monumental.”
“We just lost virtually all of our revenues for the foreseeable future,”
Lacob said. “But we have huge expenses that aren’t going away. I feel for
these part-time employees and local restaurants and Uber drivers and all of
the service people that make their living in and around events like ours
“So many small businesses in the city of San Francisco will be impacted by
this series of events.”
While that is undoubtedly true, Silver said that in further talks among
owners on Thursday “not one team raised (the issue of) money.
“The entire discussion was about the safety and health of the players, the
community around the NBA and our fans.”
What the league is trying to determine now he said, is “what makes sense
here, without compromising anyone’s safety.
“I think it’s too early to tell.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0917 hrs