America

Sports Leagues Shutting Down Due to Coronavirus

The NBA and NHL suspend play for an unknown amount of time as COVID-19 finds its first athlete infectee.

NBA, NHL, Shut Down

The NBA was the first to suspend its season – doing so quite abruptly on Wednesday after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus just moments before a game in Oklahoma City.

The suspension was initially planned to begin on Thursday, but Wednesday’s final game between the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans was canceled as well after the announcement, as the league considers their options and how to move forward in “regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”

The NHL followed suit, suspending its 2019-20 season due to the outbreak, now declared pandemic, in an announcement made Thursday, although the league hopes that play can be resumed at a later point this season and not entirely canceled.

“… Following last night’s news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus – and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point – it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

The decision was made several hours after the NBA’s announcement and the NHL has given its advice and warnings to teams to not conduct morning skates, practices or team meetings, although no information has been given on whether or not any NHL player has the virus.

Reactionary Times News Desk

All breaking news stories that matter to America. The News Desk is covered by the sharpest eyes in news media, as they decipher fact from fiction.

Previous/Next Posts

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button