Big venues appear to be exercising an abundance of caution even though officials are still determining what we’re actually dealing with as the Coronavirus spreads. Teams are warned to prepare for possibly playing games in empty arenas as the Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, according to a memo from the NBA.
At this point, nothing is set in stone but if things get real, teams will need to be prepared to implement strategies like this.
A separate memo was issued to teams earlier with suggested measures for avoiding the virus. The league suggesting players fist-bump instead of high-five are one among the steps. Officials also suggest avoiding taking items from fans to autograph in order to protect players.
While cases continue to grow in North America, they have been fairly minimal compared to other countries. There’s concern about the disease’s impact on foreign countries that the NBA scouts and pre-draft scouting visits and workouts could be limited or even canceled.
As of now, the NBA is preparing for upcoming events such as the Global Hoops Summit and NBA Draft Combine to proceed as scheduled.
The NBA has been in communication with both the CDC and private experts according to a report. Their expectation, at the moment, is that a player infected with the virus would be sidelined for around two weeks.
So far, the NBA has not canceled, rescheduled or otherwise altered any games. We’ll keep you posted on any developments.
