The National Basketball Association has suspended the 2020 season over concerns of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a tweet from ESPN Senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
He added, “The NBA ‘will use hiatus to determine next steps moving forward,’ league says.”
The NBA "will use hiatus to determine next steps moving forward," league says. https://t.co/tWoRO8pbfT
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
The move comes shortly after it was revealed Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was confirmed and reported just before the Jazz were about to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Consequently, all games will be canceled until further notice.
SXSW Canceled For 1st Time In 34 Years Over Coronavirus
Last month, the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, which was initially identified in Wuhan, China. The CDC website explains, “The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreted as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV.’”
Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for Coronavirus.
NBA has suspended its season. pic.twitter.com/YPV1SVj2gp
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2020
A recent update from the CDC states there are 938 cases in the United States with 29 fatalities in 39 states, including the District of Columbia.
So far, annual festivals such as SXSW and Ultra Music Festival in Miami have been canceled. The Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival has been postponed until October.
Pete Rock and Big Boi have expressed their shock on Twitter. There’s a sense an avalanche of reactions will follow.
Until then, check out their reactions below.
NBA suspended damn
— PETEROCK.COM (@PeteRock) March 12, 2020
Here we go pic.twitter.com/U7BAsFJ09D
— Big Boi (@BigBoi) March 12, 2020