Dave Richard/USA TODAY Sports
In an effort to help alleviate the spread of the coronavirus, the NBA has suspended its season and major college conference have cancelled their basketball tournaments.
On Wednesday, the NBA had announced that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, and teammate Donovan Mitchell was found to have tested positive as well this morning.
Immediately following Gobert’s results, their game in Oklahoma City was cancelled and the NBA began to take immediate action on the next measures to take. Unfortunately, that meant suspending the season in an effort to protect players and fans until further notice.
The coronavirus is making its mark across the landscape of professional and collegiate sports.
With March Madness already underway, many conferences had already begun their conference basketball tournaments. Instead of cancelling their tournaments earlier this week, some conferences had opted to move forward but without spectators. However, on Thursday morning, many major conferences such as the Pac-12, ACC, SEC and Big 12 have all announced that they have canceled their men’s basketball tournaments. It’s still unknown if the NCAA will cancel the tournament altogether.
Some conferences are taking things a step further. The SEC announced Thursday morning that they have suspended all regular season games for all of their teams, including SEC championship events, until March 30.
The fate of other major sports leagues is yet to come.
Major League Baseball is expected to suspend operations, as of Thursday morning, and the decision regarding spring training and the regular season is expected to come soon as well.
Major League Soccer has suspended its season for 30 days, and the NHL has suspended their season as well. A formal announcement for the NHL is expected Thursday afternoon.
