NBA Postpones Remainder of Season Due to Coronavirus Outbreak
On March 11, the National Basketball Association (NBA) postponed the remainder of its season indefinitely, following the news that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz team tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). In the days that followed, the Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League postponed their seasons as well, while the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) canceled theirs.
Many students at Peninsula had been looking forward to the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, which was scheduled to begin on March 17. One of those students is freshman Billy Hall, who makes a bracket of how he believes the tournament will play out every year.
“I always look forward to making a bracket every March and competing with my family and friends on who can make the best one,” Hall said. “The tournament is always unpredictable, so it is really fun to see who has the best bracket.”
While the NBA has not canceled their season as the NCAA did, it is still uncertain whether its season will be completed at all. The NBA playoffs were originally supposed to begin on April 17. Since the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers were among students’ favorites in the championship, many of Peninsula’s students are hoping that the playoffs will still take place in the future. As a Lakers fan, freshman Josh Ikegami was especially looking forward to watching the Lakers in the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
“I am really disappointed [that the playoffs might be canceled] because after not making the playoffs for so many years, the Lakers had finally qualified for it this year,” Ikegami said.
Sporting events are not only being canceled in the United States (U.S.), but also all around the world. The Union of European Football Associations European Football Championship, which happens every four years, was set to start on June 12, but it will now take place in 2021. Freshman Christian Rasic was saddened by this news because he believes that the older stars he enjoys watching will not have the same firepower next year as they do now.
“As a Croatian, this is especially [difficult to watch] because our World Cup finalist side from 2018 was full of veterans,” Rasic said. “By the time the Euro 2021 is played, they will be past their peak, and we will have a worse chance to win than we did this year.”
It is unclear when sports around the world will return. However, league officials in the U.S. have made it clear that their seasons will not resume until health experts say that COVID-19 is well under control.
