JUST IN: Police Close Down NBA Game in Oklahoma City After Player Walkout Amid Coronavirus Fears

Reed RichardsonMar 11th, 2020, 9:32 pm
 

NBA Game in Oklahoma City Postponed

A Wednesday night game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder was abruptly postponed to a later date by the NBA just minutes before tipoff, although no official reason was given for the rescheduling of the game.

The Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City was almost filled to capacity and players had already begun pre-game warm-ups when both the Jazz and Thunder teams suddenly walked off the court and returned to their locker rooms. The postponement comes amid news that the league instituted a new provision on Wednesday night that would temporarily ban spectators from all future games because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Moments later, the Thunder’s public address announcer told fans that the game was officially postponed, but did not offer any information on when the game eventually would be played.

This last-minute postponement is illustrative of the fast-moving nature of how organizations are dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Four NBA games on the East Coast were already underway when the OKC game was abruptly called off. And the league offered no immediate update on the status of the New Orleans Pelicans – Sacramento Kings games scheduled to begin in California later in the evening.

UPDATE: The NBA announced on Wednesday night that it will suspend its 2019–20 season, after discovering just minutes before tipoff that a player on the Jazz, center Rudy Gobert, tested positive for the virus. Both teams’ players have been placed into quarantine.

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