Los Angeles Times - 13.03.2020

D4 FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

losing sports is about more
than just losing games. It’s
about losing part of the
foundation on which you
view yourself.
What are you going to
watch on ESPN? How will
your favorite sports-talk
radio show talk? What kind
of stories will this sports
section publish?
There are so many things
sports fans have come to
depend upon that have
suddenly evaporated in a
manner we didn’t think was
possible.
We love the certainty of
championships. Yet quite
unbelievably, there will be
no NCAA men’s or women’s
basketball champion this
year. The shining moments
have been darkened. Cin-
derella has been cut. No-
body will be dancing.
The tournament cancel-
lations, at both the high
school and college levels,
represent the virus’ bite at
its most vicious. Hundreds
of seniors who spent four
years working for one last
shot of glory have watched
their dreams instantly
expire. It’s totally necessary,

but completely unfair, and if

the seniors aren’t given an

extra year of eligibility —

unlikely, it would seem — it

would be a brutal final bit of

their college education.

We love the final-month

fight for seeding for the

NBA playoffs. Yet by the

time the league resumes,

that fight may be little more

than a short scuffle if the

season is shortened. So

much drama will be lost. So

much of the season-long

momentum built by a team

like the Lakers could disap-

pear.

We love following the

final spring training machi-

nations that lead to base-

ball’s glorious opening day.

Are they ready? Who’s

playing second base? All

that anticipation will now be

lost, opening day will be

sprung on us at the last

minute and who knows

where it will be? It won’t feel

glorious, but forced, and the

season probably will be

shortened, and we hate

those asterisk seasons.

But mostly, we love to

watch. We love the Dodgers

on Sunday afternoons, the

Lakers on Tuesday nights,

March Madness at 2 p.m. on

a Thursday, LAFC on Sat-

urday nights downtown and

the Kings any night at Sta-

ples Center.

We love the feel and flow

of sports all the time, on the

radio going to work, at the

water cooler during lunch,

late at night on a sports

highlight show after the kids

have gone to bed.

Sports inspires, enrages

and empowers us through

our daily lives, and during

this time of national panic,

it is the one cornerstone we

thought we could lean upon.

Yet, at least for the next

month, sports have been

dramatically pulled out

from under us.

Seriously, what the hell

are we supposed to do now?

This wasn’t supposed to happen with sports

[Plaschke,from D1]

THE BOX OFFICE is closed at Staples Center, and why not? There is no telling

when (or if) the Lakers, Clippers or Kings will resume their seasons.

Damian DovarganesAssociated Press

COVID-19 IN SPORTS

PHOENIX — With the

Major League Baseball

schedule on hold following

the decision Thursday to

suspend spring training and

delay the start of the 2020

regular season at least two

weeks as the country seeks

to slow the spread of

COVID-19, the Dodgers in-

tend on proceeding as close

to normal as possible.

Manager Dave Roberts

said the club will keep its

doors open at Camelback

Ranch, their spring training

home in Arizona, for players

until further notice. They

will provide food for players

and personnel. The training

and coaching staffs will re-

port to work and players will

attempt to stay in shape in

preparation for the season.

Roberts maintained

players are not required to

stick around and can go

home, but he expects most

— if not all — players to re-

main with the team. MLB

and union leaders are sched-

uled to meet Friday to dis-

cuss player concerns.

The Dodgers had their

two split-squad games can-

celed Thursday because of

rain before MLB announced

its decision to suspend oper-

ations.

“They certainly have that

option, to leave,” Roberts

said. “It’s certainly not a

mandate. It’s an option. Our

guys are pretty adamant of

wanting to stick around be-

cause it’s only two weeks.”

The two-week delay,

however, is not certain. In a

statement, MLB said it has

been preparing a “variety of

contingency plans” and will

“announce the effects on the

schedule at an appropriate

time.”

The start of the season

could be pushed back fur-

ther. In Illinois, home of the

Chicago Cubs and White

Sox, Gov. J.B. Pritzker

banned gatherings of more

than 1,000 people in the state

until May 1. On Wednesday,

Gov. Gavin Newsom recom-

mended banning gatherings

or 250 or more through the

end of March in California.

If the delay is limited to

two weeks, opening day

would take place April 9. The

Dodgers would lose 12

games from their original

schedule — six against the

San Francisco Giants, three

against the Colorado

Rockies, and three against

the St. Louis Cardinals.

Roberts said he suspects

the league would just pick

up the original schedule

whenever the season starts

and, ideally, tack on the

postponed games to the end

of the schedule. The Dod-

gers were scheduled to con-

clude a four-game series in

St. Louis on April 9. On

Wednesday, the Dodgers

pulled their scouts off the

road. The organization also

canceled their international

scouting meetings sched-

uled for next week.

In the meantime, Rob-

erts said playing intrasquad

games is on the table with

the minor league season

also delayed and minor

leaguers available to partici-

pate.

He said pitchers will be

the most difficult to handle

because starters require

building arm strength to go

deep into games once the

season begins. Roberts said

it will be important for

pitchers to continue throw-

ing regularly at curtailed

volumes until MLB an-

nounces a more fixed

schedule.

“The tricky part is play-

ers will argue that spring

training itself is too long,”

Roberts said. “Now you’re

adding two weeks on. ...

Eight weeks is a lot to ask, so

I think that you got to under-

stand and back off a little bit

to keep guys engaged and fo-

cused but then understand

that it’s two weeks later. So,

it’s a balance.”

Dodgers

try to

stay on

base in

Arizona

Roberts says players

are not required to

remain at Camelback

Ranch, but many are

expected to stay.

By Jorge Castillo

The unknown became a
little clearer, the unprece-
dented got a bit of precedent
and the shellshocked NBA
got some guidance about
what tomorrow will look like
after a string of conference
calls during the league’s first
day under suspension.
Speaking for the first
time since Wednesday’s de-
cision to halt league play,
NBA commissioner Adam
Silver said the expectation is
for the league to be shut
down for at least 30 days
while the country grapples
with the coronavirus
pandemic.
“We don’t know enough
to be more specific than
that, to give direction to our
players, teams and our fans
that this is going to be
roughly at least a month,”
Silver said on TNT’s “Inside
the NBA” broadcast. “But
then the question becomes,
‘Is there a protocol frankly,
with or without fans, in
which we can resume play?’
“I think the goal, talking a
lot to Michelle Roberts with
the players association, I
talked to Chris Paul, the
president of the union earli-
er tonight, coming together
[with] what makes sense
here without compromising
anyone’s safety. I think it’s
frankly too early to tell. It de-
pends how quickly this virus
spreads and it also depends
on what the theory is going
to be in how to treat it.”
Silver said there is a pos-
sibility the season could end
up wrapping in the summer,
with the NBA Finals pos-
sibly played in July instead
of mid-June. Cancellation is
also a possibility.
Lakers players had a con-
ference call with general
manager Rob Pelinka and
coach Frank Vogel. Players
were left with the impres-
sion that the league’s own-
ers were committed to try-
ing to finish the 2019-20 sea-
son, according to people fa-
miliar with the discussions.
Clippers president of
basketball operations
Lawrence Frank and coach
Doc Rivers have been com-
municating with staff and
players through phone calls
and a group text message.
The first seedlings of a
timeline came on a day when
the league also gave its 30
clubs a set of guidelines to
follow until Monday, when
the rules could be adjusted
based on new information.
Players have been man-
dated to stay in the market
where they play and have
daily conversations with
team medical staffs through
the weekend. They’ve been
asked to stay at home as
much as possible, with prac-
tices, group workouts and
team meetings outlawed.
Two players, Utah Jazz
All-Stars Rudy Gobert and
Donovan Mitchell, tested
positive for the coronavirus.
The Toronto Raptors, who

played Utah on Monday,

have self quarantined and

undergone testing for the

virus. The Detroit Pistons,

who played the Jazz in De-

troit on Saturday, have also

been asked to isolate them-

selves.

“While there is no indica-

tion that the novel co-

ronavirus was passed to any

Pistons player or staff mem-

ber, out of an abundance of

caution medical staff has

asked players, coaches,

basketball staff and trav-

eling party to self isolate un-

til further notice under the

direction of team medical

staff,” the team said in a

statement.

Mitchell, 23, confirmed

he tested positive in an In-

stagram post Thursday.

“We are all learning more

about the seriousness of this

situation and hopefully peo-

ple can continue to educate

themselves and realize that

they need to behave respon-

sibly both for their own

health and for the well-being

of those around them,”

Mitchell wrote. “I appreciate

the authorities in Oklahoma

who were helpful with the

testing process and every-

one from the @utahjazz who

have been so supportive. I

am going to keep following

the advice of our medical

staff and hope that we can

all come together and be

there for each other and our

neighbors who need our

help.”

Gobert’s diagnosis,

which happened Wednes-

day and triggered the shut-

down of the NBA and even-

tually most of the sporting

landscape, was met with

controversy because of his

actions earlier in the week.

Gobert, 27, ended a news

conference by jokingly

touching the microphones

and recording devices of the

assembled reporters.

He apologized Thursday.

“I want to thank every-

one for the outpouring of

concern and support over

the last 24 hours. I have gone

through so many emotions

since learning of my diag-

nosis ... mostly fear, anxiety,

and embarrassment,” Gob-

ert wrote. “The first and

most important thing is I

would like to publicly apolo-

gize to the people that I may

have endangered. 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 what-

ever I can to support using

my experience as way to ed-

ucate others and prevent

the spread of this virus.

“I am under great care

and will fully recover. Thank

you again for all your sup-

port. I encourage everyone

to take all of the steps to stay

safe and healthy. Love.”

The virus’ impact on the

league is likely not done.

TNT analyst Charles Bark-

ley announced that he was

instructed to self quarantine

after exhibiting symptoms.

He received a test for

COVID-19 and participated

in Thursday’s show via

phone.

The NBA hopes to use

cases like Gobert’s and

Barkley’s to educate fans

about the dangers of the

virus and the precautionary

steps people are encouraged

to take. For at least the next

month, there’s not much

else for the league to do.

“At this point, we’re just

waiting,” Silver said.

Times staff writers

Broderick Turner and

Andrew Greif contributed

to this report.

JAZZ PLAYERS Rudy Gobert (27) and Donovan Mitchell tested positive for the coronavirus. “We are all

learning more about the seriousness of this situation,” Mitchell wrote in an Instagram post Thursday.

Duane BurlesonAssociated Press

NBA in a wait-and-see mode

The league won’t play

for at least 30 days

with cancellation as a

possibility, Silver says.

By Dan Woike

‘But then the

question becomes,

“Is there a protocol

frankly, with or

without fans, in

which we can

resume play?” ’

— Adam Silver

NBA commissioner, on the

uncertainty of resuming play

Athletes and sports figures who have tested positive

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal

The Arsenal coach tested positive for the

coronavirus Thursday, forcing the English

Premier League soccer club to close its

training complex and put the first team in

self-isolation.

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz

Gobert was the first NBA player to test

positive for the coronavirus. His positive

test is what led the NBA to suspend its

season. A few days before, he had made fun

of the virus, touching every microphone at a

news conference. On Thursday, he issued a

statement saying: “The first and most

important thing is I would like to publicly

apologize to the people that I may have

endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was

even infected. I was careless and make no

excuse.”

Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz

He was the second NBA player confirmed to

have the virus. Mitchell spoke about his

positive test in an Instagram post. “We are

all learning more about the seriousness of

this situation and hopefully people can

continue to educate themselves and realize

that they need to behave responsibly both

for their own health and for the well being of

those around them.”

Daniele Rugani, Juventus

Rugani plays soccer for Italian Serie A club

Juventus and the Italian national team and

was the first player in Italy’s top league to

test positive for the virus.

Unnamed game official, CAA men’s

basketball title game

A game official who worked the Colonial

Athletic Assn.’s men’s basketball title game

Tuesday tested positive for the coronavirus.

The official worked the game between

Hofstra and Northeastern, which Hofstra

won 70-61. The official, according to the

CAA, did not exhibit symptoms until 72

hours after the game.