Skip to main content

Report: NBA Teams Self-Quarantining After Potential Coronavirus Exposure

A number of NBA teams are self-quarantining themselves over fears that they have contracted the coronavirus, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

Per ESPN, those teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors, all of whom played the Jazz in the last 10 days.

The Raptors will self-quarantine for 14 days, the team said in a statement. 

On Wednesday night, the NBA suspended play until further notice as the league announced that a player on the Jazz had preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus. 

The player is Jazz center Rudy Gobert, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Per the NBA, the test result was reported shortly before tip-off of Wednesday's game between the Jazz and Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The affected player was not in the arena. The game was eventually postponed. 

"I'm sure I probably had contact with [Gobert]. But at the same time, like I said, [I'm] just taking precautions," Detroit guard Langston Galloway said after his team's loss to the 76ers on Wednesday night. "We've been washing our hands; and when the reports started coming out, everybody's kinda been on their hand sanitizer, washing their hands—just staying focused on that moment of, hey, [we have] interaction with a lot of different people and knowing that at the end of the day, you might've touched the ball, you might've interacted with a fan, and just being [cautious] with that going forward."

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN's Tim MacMahon Wednesday that the NBA has told teams that they can continue to practice during the hiatus. Cuban added that players have been told they should not have visitors from out of town.

The Athletic's Sam Amick reported Wednesday afternoon that the NBA had previously considered a number of possible alternatives in light of the compounding COVID-19 virus, including pushing its season back.

The league had reportedly been asking teams to give their arena schedules through the end of July, indicating the possibility of postponing play for at least a month is being explored. Typically, the NBA postseason ends in early June.