NBA suspends season; Pistons reportedly told to self-quarantine after facing Jazz player Rudy Gobert

The NBA on Wednesday night abruptly suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the presumptive positive test.

The Jazz played the Pistons on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena, and the Pistons have been advised to self-quarantine, according to a report from ESPN.

Gobert played 35 minutes in that game and had 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Jazz won, 111-105, and the announced attendance was 16,590.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice," the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. Eastern. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed "due to unforeseen circumstances."

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now — a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time frame is very fluid.

The NHL on Wednesday night said it is sticking with its schedule, for now.

Meanwhile, later Wednesday, the NBA also suspended the season of its G-League, or developmental league. The Grand Rapids Drive had seven games to play, five at home.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, which declared a pandemic on Wednesday, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

It has been a worldwide issue for several weeks. And now, it has hit the NBA.

Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego, speaking before his team played at Miami on Wednesday — where news of the shutdown broke during the fourth quarter — said "these are scary times."

The NBA's movement toward empty arenas in the short term came on the same day that the NCAA announced that the men's and women's Division I tournaments would be played without fans — except for a few family members — permitted inside to watch.

"People are clearly taking the measures that they feel they need to take for safety," said Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson, who played in both the Division I and Division III national championship games during his college days at Michigan and Williams.

"There's people a lot higher up than ourselves in this locker room who have the information and the knowledge to make those types of decisions," Robinson said. "In terms of if that were to happen here ... we love playing in front of our fans and we feel like that gives us an advantage. But at the same time the NBA has to protect its players in the league and the fans."

Things have clearly been trending toward empty arenas for some time, and it was abundantly clear Wednesday morning when the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a Congressional committee that he would recommend the NBA not allow fans at games in response to the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was responding to a question asked by Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, "is the NBA underreacting or is the Ivy League overreacting?" Grothman was referencing how the Ivy League recently canceled its basketball tournaments, instead of having them without fans or keeping the status quo.

"We would recommend that there not be large crowds," Fauci said. "If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has crowds is something that would give a risk to spread."

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he was stunned when the news came down, adding that “this is much bigger than basketball."

“This is a global pandemic where people’s lives are at stake," Cuban said. “I’m a lot more worried about my kids, and my mom is 82 years old, and talking to her, and telling her to stay in the house, than I am about when we play our next game."

If the regular season ends here, it would be the end of Atlanta guard Vince Carter's 22-year playing career. And just in case this was it, the Hawks put Carter in with 19.5 seconds left in overtime in what was already clearly going to be a loss to New York.

Carter took an open 3-pointer and made it — the Knicks, aware of the moment, didn't defend him either — and celebrated with Hawks teammates afterward after what may be the final shot of his career.

“A weird, but cool memory," Carter said.