How the NBA dragged its feet before suspending the season due to coronavirus

Though the NBA eventually made the prudent choice to suspend the 2019-20 season, it took several stages before acting decisively.

Here’s how the coronavirus outbreak slowly transitioned from a nagging issue in the background to one the league deemed serious enough to halt all operations within the span of 90 minutes.

The NBA was quick to acknowledge the virus’s existence, but not quick to make substantive changes.

On March 2, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe, the league passed along a memo to players saying they should fist-bump spectators rather than high-five and decline autographs on items handed to them by fans.

Less than a week before the World Health Organization officially declared Covid-19 a pandemic, many league stakeholders still weren’t taking it seriously. On March 7, a sign posted at the Chase Center, home to the Golden State Warriors, informed fans “preventive measures” were in place due to the spread of Covid-19 with a warning that attending that night’s game could increase their risk of contracting coronavirus. “By entering the arena, you voluntarily assume all risks and agree that you will not hold GSW Arena LLC, the NBA or any of their respective affiliates or employees liable for any resulting illness or injury.”

That same day, Lakers star LeBron James said he wouldn’t play in front of an empty stadium with no fans.

“We play games without the fans? Nah, that’s impossible,” James said. “I ain’t playing if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd. That’s who I play for. I play for my teammates, and I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”

Three days later, James changed his tune. “If they feel like it’s best for the safety of the players, the safety of the franchise, the safety of the league to mandate that, then we all listen to it.”

On March 9, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the league was seriously considering banning fans from attending games, limiting the crowd to just essential personnel. But the league never followed through with those plans until it was too late.

Later that day, the NBA made its first move to prevent the spread of the deadly illness by prohibiting non-essential personnel from locker rooms, including media. Major League Baseball and the NHL followed suit.

As more cases were confirmed across 39 states, the league and its owners deliberated ways to keep the product rolling. One proposal involved NBA teams moving games to areas with fewer confirmed cases of the virus. That meant teams would play at their opponent’s arena, if necessary, or a neutral one if they needed. That idea, understandably, didn’t get very far.

In the early hours of March 11, less than 24 hours before Gobert was diagnosed, suspending league play was still considered a drastic step. “Individual NBA teams have been hesitant to become the league’s first to voluntarily eliminate fans from home games,” Wojnarowski reported.

The challenge was that there was little consensus on what to do, and the deliberation slowed more swift action. “I was shocked by the number of teams that were clueless at the size that [the coronavirus] would get to,” a high-level executive later told Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “Some teams that hadn’t faced an outbreak in their communities didn’t think it was worth talking about.”

Later that afternoon, the city of San Francisco forced the league’s hand when the mayor ordered the cancelation of any gathering of more than 1,000 people, forcing the Golden State Warriors to play their March 12 against Brooklyn without fans.

The Washington D.C. Department of Public Health recommended the city adhere to the same precautions as San Francisco. But Monumental Sports, the ownership group of the Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, declared it would press on with open games. “At the current direction of the NBA and NHL, our games will go on as scheduled and be open to spectators,” the organization said in a statement.

The Orlando Magic, set to host two games this week, added precautions, but still planned to hold its games with fans in attendance, too. “The health and safety of our fans, employees and players is our top priority,” a team statement read. “We are in contact with local health officials and the NBA as we closely monitor the situation. We encourage all to practice common CDC hygiene guidelines.”

Later that afternoon, the owners convened on a Board of Governors call. Within minutes of the Jazz-Thunder game’s cancelation, it appeared the league would continue its season without fans at the arena.

That was not a universal view, though. Three teams reportedly still wanted to continue the season in front of fans.

(In a subsequent interview with CNBC, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta clarified that he was in favor of a temporary stoppage of games altogether, but not playing in front of empty arenas).

But that tune changed less than half an hour later, because ...

On March 9, two days before he would ultimately test positive for Covid-19, Gobert decided to play what he surely thought was a practical joke on members of the media.

Gobert played 31 minutes in Utah’s home loss to Toronto that night. Then it was announced he was out for Wednesday’s game against the Thunder due to an “illness.” Gobert’s practical joke seemed a bit tone deaf at the time, but few expected it would cause any harm.

Right as the two teams prepared to tip off Wednesday night, the referees suddenly halted the game. Donnie Strack, the Thunder’s vice president of human and player performance, sprinted onto the court to deliver a message to the officials.

The players were ushered back to the locker room in front of an arena of confused fans. Half an hour later, the game was called off due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

Around 9:30 p.m. ET, the league announced “a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for Covid-19” and that game play would be suspended until further notice. Players were quarantined in their respective locker rooms and are expected to be tested.

Games that were already in progress finished as scheduled, though word traveled quickly.

Remarkably, a game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings that hadn’t even started was slated to go on as scheduled until it became clear that one of the referees had called the game Gobert played in Utah days earlier.

Soon, that game was called off. And just like that, the season was put on hold.

Jazz players and other members of the team’s traveling party, as well as traveling media, stayed in the arena for hours as they were tested by local health officials. Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz’s other star, was the only one of 58 that tested positive for the virus.

Gobert later apologized for his practical joke. “The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered,” Gobert wrote. “At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously.”

Silver later said that he has asked Gobert to record a public service announcement on the dangers of spreading Covid-19.

Since Gobert tested positive for the disease, it’s possible — nay, likely — many others are infected as well. Already, his teammate Donovan Mitchell has tested positive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus that causes Covid-19 can spread if a sick person is within six feet of others. If one NBA player has Covid-19, it could easily spread to other players, along with coaches, trainers, associates, team personnel, and even fans.

The time it takes for Covid-19 symptoms to manifest is unclear. The CDC recommends 14-day quarantines for anyone exposed to the virus because that’s the longest incubation period for similar coronaviruses. Using that as a baseline, it’s exceedingly possible that Gobert a) spread the disease to other players, and b) possibly caught it from someone who has yet to experience symptoms. Already, the league has told players on the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and Toronto Raptors to self-quarantine, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Those teams played the Utah Jazz over the past 10 days.

Then there are the countless staffers, coaches, trainers, media members, associates, and fans who were within six feet of Gobert at some point over that stretch. Even that list doesn’t include other teams who shared resources with the Jazz and are now at risk. For example:

The season itself will be postponed for a minimum of 30 days, Silver told TNT on March 13. The early preference is to resume the regular season and push the calendar back, but Silver acknowledged the possibility that the season could be canceled altogether.

One league challenge: it will be difficult to fully determine if every player is symptom free. Some owners want every player to be tested, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, but that is not practical given the shortage of testing kits in this country. (In fact, it raised many eyebrows when the Jazz were able to secure so many testing kits right away. Robert Silverman of the Daily Beast estimated that testing just those 58 people required using 20 percent of Oklahoma City’s daily capacity).

Postponing games certainly brought its own set of costs, most notably the loss of income for stadium workers. In a sideline interview with ESPN, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he will “put a program together for them.” He added more specifics in a subsequent press conference.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love vowed to contribute $100,000 to support his team’s arena and support staff. Several other owners, including Cleveland’s Dan Gilbert, have pledged to pay their hourly employees as if each postponed game happened as scheduled. Here’s hoping they all do.

The league’s decision to suspend the season, spurred by Donnie Strack’s hustle, was the right one. But had they not dragged their feet on the inevitable and acted before one of its players contracted and potentially spread Covid-19, the NBA and its many stakeholders could have protected more people.

The league should be commended for acting decisively after Gobert’s positive test, but is also left to think about what it could have done sooner.