Daily US Times, New York: This season NBA has been suspended until further notice after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus, T-he National Basketball Association (NBA) announced on Wednesday.
The news of the player being tested positive revealed shortly before the Jazz were due to play the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The match was then scrapped. It is reported the player was Jazz center Rudy Gober and he was not in the arena when the match was rejected.
“The NBA is suspending gameplay following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said, “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine the next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
ESPN reported citing sources that the players who have played with Jazz in the past 10 days were told to self-quarantine.
More than 126,000 people globally have been infected from the virus globally where more than 4,600 have died. In the United States, 1,280 people have been infected with 38 deaths.
The pandemic rocked the North American sports events calendar, including the cancellation of the figure-skating world championships and the announcement that college basketball’s annual ‘March Madness’ tournament would take place without fans in attendance.
“Man we canceling sporting events, school, office work, etc, etc,” tweeted by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
“What we really need to cancel is 2020! Damn it’s been a rough 3 months. God bless and stay safe,” he added indicating the death of NBA great Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in January, who was also a player of his team.
A game between the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans was also called off at the last minute.
The NBA playoffs were scheduled to tip-off on April 18 with the finals set to begin on June 4.
The National Hockey League also seems to follow the footstep of NBA. The league said it was consulting with medical experts and would have a further update on Thursday.
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