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Coronavirus forces NBA to suspend season

12th March, 2020
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12th March, 2020
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ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski – famous in sports circles for his accuracy and speed with breaking NBA news stories – has today announced that the NBA will suspend the season after a player tested positive to COVID-19.

Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert tested positive to the virus, which is thought to be the tipping point as to a season-suspension.

The league had previously prepared to play games in empty arenas to limit to spread of the outbreak.

The full statement from the NBA reads as follows;

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“The NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, tonight’s game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena.

“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.”

Previously, the Golden State Warriors had announced they’d play the rest of their home games this season in front of no fans. The San Jose Sharks of the NHL were set to follow suit.

The USA currently has 1322 confirmed cases of COVID-19. While this is significantly higher than Australia’s current tally of 127, Australia’s figure is much higher in terms of infected persons per million citizens.

There is no word as of now as to whether Australian sporting codes will follow suit.

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