LOS ANGELES _ The NBA's reach extends across the globe, broadcasting to more than 200 countries and territories while generating almost $9 billion in annual revenue. Its top players are the most powerful in sports, able to reach tens of millions and spark change with a single social media post. The behemoth's reach and influence across cultures and time zones is built on a massive sum of interconnected parts.
It is a fragile behemoth too, those same woven connections vulnerable to the chain reactions upon which a pandemic preys.
However, a pandemic didn't seem to be on the minds of players as recently as the first week of March, when the insouciance of the NBA mirrored that of sports at large and the rest of the country.
The games went on, with the usual casual human contact: hugs, high-fives, news conferences in cramped locker rooms, charter flights, hotel stays. Life went on, with grocery shelves still filled with cans of beans, bags of pasta, toilet paper. The spread of the novel coronavirus, which had reached the front pages, nonetheless still felt like someone else's problem.
Behind the scenes, though, tension mounted. The league issued a series of increasingly alarming memorandums. Limit interactions with fans. Increase reminders to fans to wash their hands. Use fist-bumps instead of high-fives. Prepare to play games with only essential personnel present.
Staples Center, home to the Lakers and Clippers and the NHL's Kings, ramped up cleaning procedures as part of a wide-ranging plan. The hub of sports and entertainment in Los Angeles hosted 39 events after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the county, including the memorial service for Kobe Bryant, the Grammy Awards, two nights of bull riding, 12 Kings games, and 19 games involving the Lakers or Clippers.
The final three games came during four days, ending March 11 when sports at every level lurched to a stop because the rampant spread of the virus had reached NBA locker rooms.
At least eight athletes who played in those games have been diagnosed with COVID-19: four Brooklyn Nets, including sidelined star Kevin Durant, two Lakers who haven't been identified and two members of the NHL's Ottawa Senators. Identifying the source and site of the infection is impossible, but the Lakers' schedule during that final week put them within four degrees of separation of every NBA team. The crossover between leagues _ 11 arenas are home to both NBA and NHL teams _ the densely loaded schedules, the proximity to closely packed stands, combined with an easily spread virus, created a new label for athletes: super spreaders.
Amid the tumult of sports at every level shutting down, followed by much of the country, Staples Center is a common denominator among eight of the 16 cases of COVID-19 announced by NBA and NHL teams.
This is the story of the last four days inside Staples Center.
