Unless you have been living under a rock, Coronavirus has quite literally taken over the world in the past weeks. Last night, it hit the NBA. Fans were in the arena waiting for the Jazz-Thunder game to tip-off when they were told the game has been postponed and had to leave due to an unforeseen circumstance. That circumstance, Rudy Gobert was being tested for the epidemic. It was later confirmed that Gobert indeed tested positive and the wheels officially started to fall off from there as a couple hours later it was announced the NBA is suspending their season until further notice.
This is the news that sports talk radio have been bracing listeners for all week, but fans were still not ready for this news. No one, not just fans, wanted this to happen. Those who work in the arenas didn’t want it to happen. The owners didn’t want it to happen. Adam Silver didn’t want this to happen. The players didn’t want this to happen. However, this decision is one that is bigger than basketball and simply had to be made; no league or company wants to be the reason the virus continues to spread. The Cavs, Knicks, Celtics, Pistons, and Raptors are also being told to self quarantine due to recently playing the Jazz.
The social media reactions to this news don’t surprise me. There is a common theme amongst all of them, “Wow.” Players can’t believe that it has to come to this. CJ McCollum even went so far to tell his fellow players to use this time to realize how easily basketball can be taken from you and to have multiple sources of income. It is a scary thought for CJ to immediately jump to, but it speaks to the fact that no one knows what to expect going forward. Fans are more outraged than surprised, which doesn’t surprise me considering fans typically live in an outraged state on social media. Even if it does not feel like it, the NBA making this decision protects players from themselves and protects fans from themselves. So while the shock and frustration are understandable, it is for everyone’s own physical good.
Although, this is the first sports league to be suspended, prior to this we already heard the Ivy League cancel their conference basketball tournament and all of March Madness will be played with no fans, with the exception of some family and necessary arena personnel. Michigan and Ohio State football cancelled their spring games and recruiting visits. The Seattle Mariners will not be playing their home games in Seattle when the season starts if things don’t get drastically better surrounding the epidemic. There are more precautions being taken just like this, but by the time you read this, five or ten more were probably put in place.
With MLB opening day and the NHL playoffs fast approaching, people are wondering what the effects of the health epidemic will be for those events. I do not expect the leagues to act the way the NBA did until one of their players tests positive, so fingers crossed! The bottom line, is that sports have been the escape from reality for a vast population of people and we are seeing the Coronavirus take it away from us bit by bit.
At The End of the Bench, we have all those impacted by this virus in our thoughts and prayers. We urge everyone to stay safe and say something if you are not feeling well.
