NBA suspends season after Jazz player tests positive for coronavirus. Kings game postponed
This is a developing story. Check back to sacbee.com for updates.
The NBA has suspended its season after a player tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The Sacramento Kings were moments away from playing a nationally televised game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday when the public-address announcer informed spectators the game had been postponed.
The NBA issued a statement Wednesday night announcing the season will be suspended after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus in Oklahoma City. Shams Charania of The Athletic identified the player as Jazz center Rudy Gobert, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The situation evolved quickly after the Jazz’s scheduled game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City was canceled.
At 5:10 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Royce Young of ESPN reported that Thunder medical staffer Donnie Strack sprinted onto the floor just seconds before tipoff. About 35 minutes later, the public-address announcer informed the crowd the game had been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
At 6:27 p.m., Charania reported Gobert had tested positive for the coronavirus. Four minutes later, the NBA issued a statement announcing the season would be suspended at the conclusion of Wednesday’s games.
“The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the league said.
Pelicans refuse to take court, game is postponed
That announcement came an hour before the Kings were scheduled to play the Pelicans at Golden 1 Center in a game with playoff implications for both teams. Pelicans players had not taken the court moments before the game was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Kings players then headed back into the locker room shortly after 7:30 p.m.
The Kings went 13-7 over their past 20 games to vault themselves into playoff contention, renewing hope in Sacramento that the team might finally end its 13-year postseason drought.
“It’s crazy that it escalated that quickly,” Kings guard Kent Bazemore said. “I don’t really know what to say. This is the best we’ve been playing all year, so we were kind of excited to get out there for one of the biggest games of the year for us, and it kind of sucks that it’s taken away. Hopefully they get it resolved and get us back on the floor.”
Pelicans general manager David Griffin and rookie sensation Zion Williamson declined to comment as they left the arena. Williamson shook his head as he headed for the exit.
Loud boos filled Golden 1 Center when the public-address announcer told fans the game had been postponed out of an “abundance of caution.”
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Eddie Montes, a 34-year-old Sacramento man who attended the Kings game. “I think it’s the right thing to do to close it out. It’s kind of a crazy situation right now. I don’t know if anybody really has a good answer for how to handle it.”
Refunds for Wednesday’s game will be available at the point of purchase, the Kings tweeted.
Hours after the NBA’s decision, the NBA G League followed suit, suspending the season upon the completion of Wednesday’s schedule.
The Kings have not played the Jazz since Jan. 18. However, one of the referees officiating the Kings game against the Pelicans on Wednesday worked the Jazz and Toronto Raptors game on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
“This is a tough blow, but let’s put everything in perspective,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “I understand making any decision to suspend non-essential activities if that decision might curtail the more rapid spread of this virus. Our job locally is to prepare calmly for the inevitable increase in the number of people who will test positive. There is no need for panic. We will be prepared and get through this together.”
Barry Broome, head of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, says the season closure will be harmful to downtown businesses, especially smaller ones.
“We’re really worried about this,“ Broome said. “It’s going to be a tough hit on restaurants in smaller businesses.”
It also harms the community as a whole, he said, because the Kings bring people together as a community.
“It’s going to mean a loss of civic engagement,” Broome said.
Downtown Sacramento economic impact
Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said the NBA’s announcement, while understandable, is going to be devastating for Sacramento’s revitalized downtown, and “will have repercussions that will live beyond this season.”
“They come into the restaurants. They come into the bars. They come early. They stay late,” he said of Kings fans. “We absolutely would say this is more than a basketball experience. The Kings are huge. We love the impact they present. They do so much more to the downtown core as it relates to supporting the businesses.”
Ault’s group estimates that in a single season Golden1 Center attendees spent $71 million in Downtown Sacramento.
The shutdown will once and for all drive home the point “that this is pretty serious,” said Kings fan John Wilson, who was sharing hand sanitizer with his friend Tom Van Noord as they walked toward the main entrance of Golden 1 Center shortly before tip-off.
“This is going to have short-term economic ramifications,” said Wilson, of Cameron Park. “The restaurants.” He and Van Noord dined at Sampino’s on Broadway before the game.
Although the league announced games were suspended until further notice, Wilson and others were struggling to digest media reports suggesting the season had been called off. “This is probably the last game of the NBA season,” Wilson said.
As fans milled around the DoCo plaza, Overton Clayborne and his friend Anthony Stowers were upset with the NBA’s decision.
“I think it’s crazy,” Clayborne said. “I think they should people make up their own minds ... about what they want to see ... what they want to expose themselves to.”
But he added that he’s aware the public health risk is significant: “I get it.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 7:12 PM with the headline "NBA suspends season after Jazz player tests positive for coronavirus. Kings game postponed."
