On Wednesday, March 11th, the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder game was announced as postponed due to Rudy Gobert testing positive for the coronavirus, or COVID-19. Once diagnosed, Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, decided it was best to suspend the rest of the season for at least 30 days. Both the Jazz and Thunder were quarantined in the stadium until the Jazz members and staff were tested. We later found out that out of 58 people tested, the only person to be diagnosed with the coronavirus was Donovan Mitchell.
A few days ago, Rudy Gobert joked about the situation by touching all of the microphones at the end of his press conference, not knowing he had the coronavirus. He later apologized on social media saying, “I was careless and make no excuse.” I have to admit, I am disappointed in Gobert, and so are the Utah Jazz. I understand he didn’t know he had the virus, but he should have still been cautious about the situation.
I also think Adam Silver did the right thing here. Before it was announced that Gobert had the virus, the NBA was thinking about playing the rest of their games with no fans at the stadium, but once a player contracts it, they had to suspend the season. The virus takes 10-14 days to show symptoms, so now every team the Jazz played and the teams that those teams played are asked to self-quarantine. So basically, the entire league needs to be tested to see who has this virus.
This is a scary situation, because not only are the teams in danger, all of the fans who attended games recently are as well! This is an airborne virus, meaning just being in the same facility as someone with the virus puts you at risk. Basically every sport is suspended for the time being. I would say I hope the NBA comes back quickly, but I just care about the safety of everyone. So if that means the NBA is suspended for 6 months, so be it. Stay safe everyone.
Philadelphia Sports Chronicle 