The world is reeling from the COVID-19 outbreak and that extends to the sports world. Most major sports have suspended play amid coronavirus fears, headlined by the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and two high-profile members of the NBA community have tested positive in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
On Thursday evening, the good folks at TNT put together a live, special-edition broadcast of Inside the NBA, with the episode including various perspectives and an interview with NBA commissioner Adam Silver. As part of that broadcast, the crew caught up with Charles Barkley, who was not on the set, via a phone call. Barkley revealed that he is currently self-quarantining for a 48-hour period.
Charles Barkley fell ill recently and has decided to self quarantine as he awaits the results of his #Covid_19 test results.pic.twitter.com/mPyjvyfsqP
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 13, 2020
Barkley indicated that he was in New York earlier in the week and, upon return to Atlanta, he wasn’t feeling well. In consultation with medical personnel, he was told to self-quarantine for two days and that began on Wednesday. Barkley also shared that he took a coronavirus test on Thursday, though he is awaiting the result at this point.
While he hasn’t been an active player for quite some time, Barkley is on the (very) short list of faces of the current NBA game, and he serves as arguably the most prominent commentator on the sport. TNT colleague Ernie Johnson speaks for everyone in passing along the hope that Barkley’s test will be negative and he will begin feeling better in short order.
