NBA season suspended amid COVID-19 concern

After Rudy Gobert tests positive for COVID-19, the NBA officially suspends season.

This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. You will hear that phrase a lot in your life and even think it many times yourself, but this time it really is true. This is no lockout where owners and players are negotiating revenue streams.

The NBA has been suspended mid-season due to COVID-19 after it was reported that Rudy Gobert had unfortunately tested positive for the virus.

The league was moving forward to a contingency plan late Wednesday, but its hand was forced after the Gobert move. Quite frankly, the NBA had no other option. With the way that COVID-19 has been spreading around the country and world, and considering that Gobert tested positive, the season needed to be suspended indefinitely.

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For the safety of its players, arena/team employees and the fans, this was a move that needed to be made. Even if it was somewhat forced with the surreal news Wednesday night.

With that said, this is absolutely unprecedented in the NBA and sports as a whole and there is no real road map for what should/will happen next.

Last night, after it was known that Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19, the Jazz-Thunder game was quickly halted before it even started. Arena officials announced that the game was postponed and sent the fans home with the assurance that they were safe.

In the locker room, though, it wasn’t so assuring.

"[via ESPN]Players the Jazz have faced within the past 10 days are being told to self-quarantine, a source told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. During that time period, Utah has played the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics, the Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors."

There are a number of teams/players that will need to self-quarantine and keep a close eye for symptoms developing over the next few days. In the waiting period, there’s no question that the league – and the rest of the country, sports fans or not – will be holding their collective breath.

For now, the NBA is gone and no one really knows when it will return. We are officially in uncharted waters.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.