The NBA is suspending its 2019-20 season indefinitely after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The season will be suspended after Wednesday, meaning Thursday’s planned meeting between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers will not be played. It is not known when games will resume, or what the schedule might look like once that occurs.
The NBA’s statement reads:
The NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was reported shortly prior to the tipoff of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, tonight’s game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena.
The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to numerous reports, that player is Gobert, who was named last month to the NBA’s 2020 All-Star Game. On Feb. 22, Gobert then played 34 minutes in a loss to the Rockets in Salt Lake City.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says symptoms typically appear two to 14 days after exposure. As a result, Gobert appears unlikely to have had the virus at that time.
Earlier reports suggested that most NBA teams (including the Rockets) preferred for games to be played in empty arenas without fans, but that assessment apparently changed when one of the league’s marquee players tested positive.
The Rockets (40-24) will enter the hiatus tied with the Thunder for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. Both teams are a game behind the Jazz (41-23) for the No. 4 spot, which would mean home-court advantage in at least one round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
