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The anxiety with the Coronavirus is affecting the sports world, specifically in the NBA. In order to combat the virus, the NBA has some decisions to make going forward to keep everyone safe.
NBA discusses options surrounding Coronavirus
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA organizers discussed the idea of moving games to other arenas or cities today ahead of a conference call involving Commissioner Adam Silver. If a team is set to play in a city where Coronavirus has been reported, then the possibility of playing at the away team’s arena or a neutral site that has not had a case yet comes into play.
The NBA made a decision earlier this week to no longer allow locker room access for media members for both games and practices temporarily. Media members are only allowed to interview players outside of locker rooms and must be six feet apart.
Wojnarowski also relayed that in the meantime, the NBA may begin playing games with no fans and even suspending game operations for an undetermined amount of time.
Players reaction to ideas
Players seem to be a little hesitant about the idea of playing in front of no fans.
Teams like the Lakers who have about 20 games left in their regular season could find themselves playing in empty arenas.
When Lebron James was asked about his opinion on playing in front of an empty arena, he responded with “I ain’t playing.” Even though he will be disappointed if the NBA decides to rule that the general public is not allowed in the arenas, he said he would comply to whatever the league decides.
Celtic’s Kemba Walker also commented about the possible idea coming into fruition saying, “that would be terrible. That would be boring. That would suck. But at the end of the day, it is getting serious. I don’t know. It would be very weird though for sure.”
The NBA is doing its best to avoid canceling or postponing any games during this outbreak. Therefore, playing with no fans may be the best choice in order to continue the season.
The NBA continues to closely monitor the coronavirus situation daily and continues to speak with health experts, including the CDC.
