The Coronavirus continues to sicken more people across the country and has now directly affected the sport of basketball as two Utah Jazz players — Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have contracted the virus leading to a (hopefully temporary) total shutdown of NBA operations.
The Big East Conference has joined other major conferences in shutting down the rest of the tournament. St. John’s and Creighton actually played a half before the New York big wigs shut down the tourney.
Just watched about three minutes of a @BIGEAST Tournament game and now all conferences have officially canceled their tournaments because of #CoronavirusPandemic
— LA MAQUINA DE SOMBRAS (@FANalyst1) March 12, 2020
The length of this hiatus affects the entire Spring sports landscape from the youth levels on up to the pro ranks. If people continue to contract the virus, stronger quarantine methods will be enacted by local governments and these things take precedence over sports, money, free travel. Everything changes.
The WNBA is preparing for its upcoming draft in April and the season that follows shortly after into the summer.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert released the following statement:
“The health and safety of players and employees – with our teams and at the league level – is of the utmost importance. With regard to COVID-19, we are in touch with the teams, consulting with infectious disease specialists and monitoring guidance from the CDC and WHO.
The WNBA is currently not in season, but together with the WNBPA and teams, we have been in close communication and will continue to connect with and offer resources to players in the U.S. and those playing overseas.
In addition, we continue to scenario plan around our upcoming events and season including the 2020 WNBA Draft scheduled for April 17, the start of training camp on April 26 and the tip of the WNBA season on May 15. Further details will be shared later this month.”
