The NBA received a recommendation on Wednesday morning to play games without fans in attendance from the nation’s top expert on infectious disease as a measure to control the spread of COVID-19. While it’s up in the air whether all 30 teams will abide by that, one team appears set to follow its local government’s instructions and plans to have closed games for the time being.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Thursday’s game at the Chase Center between the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets will occur without any fans. This comes after the city of San Francisco announced a ban on gatherings of 1,000 or more people earlier in the day with the hopes of limiting the number of folks who could come in contact with or contract coronavirus.
The Warriors, league sources say, will be directed to play host to the Nets on Thursday night at Chase Center in a game CLOSED to fans
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 11, 2020
The team eventually confirmed that this will be the case.
Due to escalating concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, and in consultation with the City and County of San Francisco, tomorrow night’s game vs. the Nets at Chase Center will be played without fans. Fans with tickets to this game will receive a refund in the amount paid. pic.twitter.com/DMpO71ocvg
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 11, 2020
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN chimed in soon after Stein’s report hit Twitter, saying that the Warriors’ expectation is that this will not be a one-time thing and that this might have to be the case for the foreseeable future, although the call between the league and its Board of Governors on Wednesday may end up providing a little more clarity.
The Golden State Warriors are planning to play foreseeable home games without fans in observance of the San Francisco Health Office's order prohibiting group of events of 1K or more from assembling, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
Warriors stil meeting on the matter and further direction could come from league owner’s call this afternoon, per sources. For now, the Chase Center is expected to be empty for game vs. Brooklyn on Thursday. Warriors are away until March 25th, so that buys them time at Chase. https://t.co/52xXvFXSaw
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
As Zach Lowe of ESPN added, teams have been waiting for guidance on how to proceed from their local governments, something that is starting to happen.
A lot of teams have been waiting on guidance and/or orders from governments before deciding how to proceed with home games. That guidance is coming now. https://t.co/XX6ih0CPsq
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) March 11, 2020
It’s a tough situation for everyone, because playing games without fans is never ideal — LeBron James, for example, expressed hesitancy to taking the floor if that happened, although he did backtrack as he learned more about the situation and the league’s ongoing efforts to keep people safe and healthy. Plenty of questions still exist, like when other teams will hop on board and when fans will be allowed back into arenas, but with experts and local officials chiming in and recommending the best course of action, the Warriors have decided to heed that advice.
