Pelicans-Kings NBA game postponed in wake of Rudy Gobert’s Coronavirus diagnosis

While the NBA initially planned for the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings to play their game as scheduled on Wednesday night after announcing league suspension following Rudy Gobert’s diagnosis of Coronavirus, a last-minute decision was made for the contest to be postponed.

The move could be a result of one of the referees, Courtney Kirkland, having been in contact with the Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz in the last week. Gobert is the first NBA player to be publicly identified as having the Coronavirus.

The Kings and Pelicans appear to have an issue here at the Golden 1 Center: Courtney Kirkland, one of the refs on the docket tonight, was part of the crew for Monday night's game between the Jazz and Toronto.

— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) March 12, 2020

While the news didn’t initially first make waves as the overall reaction and aftermath of the league’s announcement of the suspension dominated the airwaves, the Pelicans appeared resistant to playing the game in wake of the news.

I’m standing next to the Pelicans locker room and they still haven’t walked out for warmups. There’s 9 minutes left on the clock. They usually would’ve been on the court by now.

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) March 12, 2020

The Pelicans, I’m told, are pushing hard for this game to not be played. Team officials are on standby. The Kings are already on the court. Tip-off in 5:30 and…no Pelicans. https://t.co/xPhGYGp6qu

— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) March 12, 2020

With the Pelicans pushing hard to cancel the game and refusing to take the court, the game was eventually canceled.