The announcement came shortly after it was discovered that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for coronavirus.
The NBA announced late last night that the 2020 season would be suspended until further notice. The announcement came shortly after it was discovered that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for COVID-19. The team released a statement about Gobert, saying:
“The individual’s symptoms diminished over the course of today, however, in a precautionary measure, and in consultation and cooperation with NBA medical staff and Oklahoma health officials, the decision was made to test for COVID-19,” the team said. “A preliminary positive result came back right before tip-off of the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City game. Subsequently, the decision was correctly made by the NBA to postpone the game.”
The NBA’s announcement followed shortly after.
“The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder and Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, tonight’s game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena,” the league stated. “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.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the Golden State Warriors had announced that their home games would be played in an empty arena after the city of San Francisco banned events with crowds of more than 1,000 people.
“As we noted earlier today, with the escalating situation surrounding COVID-19, we find ourselves in a rapidly-changing environment by the day, if not the hour,” the team said in a statement.
The Jazz had just finished a four-city road trip, with stops in Cleveland, New York, Boston, and Detroit. Just before that, they played the Toronto Raptors at home in Salt Lake City on Monday. The league is expected to start testing other players for the virus soon.
NBA Odds and Coronavirus
At this time, all betting options, including futures betting, has been suspended pending further updates from the National Basketball Association. No action will be taken on outstanding bets at this time.
