LOS ANGELES (USA): The National Basketball Association (NBA) has suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The test result was reported as Utah’s game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City was about to begin.
The game was abruptly postponed and the players were effectively quarantined in the locker room area.
The league said the affected player, believed to be French defensive standout Rudy Gobert, was not at the arena and was being treated by health officials in Oklahoma City.
“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Jazz issued a statement saying the player had flu-like symptoms but initially tested negative for influenza and a respiratory infection.
The decision was made to test again for COVID-19, for which he tested positive.
“A preliminary positive result came back right before tip-off of the Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City game,” the Jazz statement said. “The decision was correctly made by the NBA to postpone the game.”
The league and the team have declined to name the player, but Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone told reporters he believed it was Gobert, who was listed first as questionable for the game and then as out with illness.
“Rudy Gobert. You think it is not going to affect us, we are NBA,” said Malone. “One of our players has the coronavirus.
Team owners had been discussing Wednesday how the league should respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Dallas owner Mark Cuban was sitting courtside at the Mavericks’ game against the visiting Nuggets when he got the news on his phone.
“I thought this is crazy. It can’t be true,” Cuban said. “It is like out of a movie. Unreal.”
