OKC Thunder – Utah Jazz game becomes the catalyst to suspend NBA season
The OKC Thunder and Utah Jazz game was suspended and ended up being the catalyst for the decision to suspend the NBA season.
Last evening the events which transpired as the OKC Thunder and Utah Jazz prepared to play in their third game of the 2019-20 season took on a bizarre turn.
The teams were all on the court and prepping for tip-off prior to the Thunder Vice President of human and player performance (Donnie Strack) approaching the games officiating crew. Strack and those three officials (Pat Fraher, Mark Lindsay, and Ben Taylor) discussed presumably the fact Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19.
Shortly after Thunder coach Billy Donovan and Jazz coach Quin Snyder joined the official’s huddle and then returned to their teams who left the court for their respective locker rooms.
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There was uncertainty among the fans regarding what was happening as this all played out until eventually, the public address announcer let the fans in Chesapeake Arena know the game had been postponed. The actual announcement only said, “due to unforeseen circumstances”.
At this point, the fans began to filter out and social media provided the ongoing updates. As a side note – it just shows how much social media has grown to the point much of the immediate news the public receives is dispersed in this manner.
To that end, shortly after the OKC Thunder postponed the game tweets hit advising of Rudy Gobert testing positive and then the big news of the NBA suspending the season until further notice.
The NBA has suspended the season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
Royce Young was diligent in keeping fans in the loop regarding the sequence of events and all happenings occurring in the arena.
As per Young, he noted that all the OKC Thunder players had left the arena to go home but the Utah Jazz players were still at Chesapeake getting tested.
As for the general public the best thing is to stay abreast of the facts and the best way to accomplish that is via:
The World Health Organization – click this link
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – click this link
It’s clear this was eventually going to happen and it just so happened to tie into the Thunder- Jazz game. This is a unique situation of which there is no precedent. In the coming days and weeks, there will be more information.
For now, the only certainty is there won’t be games in the immediate future until the virus is fully contained. Players and fans’ safety will be the most important factor.
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Once the league knows with certainty that is the case, games will presume. T.I. will update with information as it becomes available.