The Oklahoma City Thunder made an announcement concerning coronavirus. Earlier this week, the Thunder revealed that players and staff members were recently tested for COVID-19 after being exposed to it on March 11. They announced all the tests came back negative.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder consulted with infectious disease experts for a recommendation on the players and staff who needed COVID-19 testing based on their exposure at the game on March 11,” the team said in a statement. “All results have come back negative. The Thunder will continue to work in coordination with team physicians, public health officials and infectious disease experts, while focusing on the health and safety of everyone in our community. Recognizing the stress on the state of Oklahoma’s medical system, the Thunder did not use state resources and chose an alternative path for testing of its personnel.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
The Thunder were scheduled to play the Jazz on March 11, but it was called off after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. It led to the NBA suspending the season.
“The NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19. The test result was reported shortly prior to tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena,” the league said in a statement.
“At that time, tonight’s game was canceled. The affected player was not in the arena. The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus epidemic.”
Once Gobert tested positive, a few other players also contracted coronavirus including his teammate Donovan Mitchell. Gobert went to social media to apologize for not taking the disease seriously.
“The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered,” he said. “At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously. I will do whatever I can to support using my experience as way to educate others and prevent the spread of this virus.”
It’s not known when or if the 2020 season will start back up but commissioner Adam Silver said the league could start resume play in mid-June.
