B12 CORONAVIRUS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH13,2020
As sports leagues around the
world come to a sudden halt
amid the threat of the novel cor-
onavirus, the Toronto Raptors
players and staff are in self-isola-
tion, awaiting test results for the
disease.
Toronto’s reigning NBA
champs will be isolated in their
homes for 14 days after a trip to
Utah, where they played the Jazz.
That team’s star players, Rudy
Gobert and Donovan Mitchell,
have since tested positive for the
virus.
“Our team doctors remain in
communication with infection-
control specialists and public-
health authorities, and we will
continue to abide by their ad-
vice,” the Raptors said in a state-
ment on Thursday.
NBA commissioner Adam Sil-
ver said on TNT on Thursday
that the NBA hiatus will be “at
least 30 days.”
The Jazz announced the first
positive test (later confirmed as
Gobert) moments before they
were scheduled to tip off against
the Thunder in Oklahoma City
on Wednesday evening.
The NBA then swiftly an-
nounced it would suspend the
season, following hours later
with news it was halting play in
its G League, too.
Before learning of that news,
the Raptors, who arrived home
to Toronto from Utah on Tues-
day, made two appearances
Wednesday night at private
events that included hundreds of
guests. They included the launch
of coach Nick Nurse’s foundation
and a Norman Powell bowling
fundraiser for Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Toronto, which raised
$105,000.
The Raptors statement said
that, according to Toronto Public
Health, being in close contact
with someone who does not
have COVID-19 – but was ex-
posed to someone with CO-
VID-19 – does not constitute a
risk for getting COVID-19 and
does not require public health
follow-up.
Team officials and their part-
ners in staging those two events
recommended that guests who
attended should “continue to
monitor their health, practise so-
cial distancing and hand wash-
ing, and contact a health profes-
sional should they develop
symptoms.”
“We were hearing at the time
there were about 78 cases across
all of Canada, and that the risk of
contracting the virus at a small
event like this would be very
low,” said Leanne Nicolle, presi-
dent and CEO at Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Toronto and an orga-
nizer of Powell’s event. “It was an
invite-only, private event with
about 200 people. We took every
precaution to make sure people
were protecting themselves.”
About 10 Raptors attended the
bowling event, which included
club security staff. Guests
watched from a distance as the
NBA players held their own
small bowling competition, with
each player supplied with his
own ball. Guests were told in ad-
vance they would not bowl with
the players this year, as had been
done at last year’s event, and
could not get autographs or self-
ies with the basketball stars.
Organizers, eager to assure Po-
well how seriously they were tak-
ing his safety, used a newly pur-
chased microphone for him to
address the crowd, even unseal-
ing its packaging in front of him.
They also gave him a Sharpie
marker right out of the package,
so he could sign a few new bas-
ketballs to leave behind for fu-
ture fundraisers.
The bowling alley had been
sanitized. Only a few news cam-
eras were allowed and all had to
use boom microphones andkeep a distance during a short
question-and-answer with Po-
well. Guests bowled after the
players left.
“The players left our event
around 8:30 p.m. and it wasn’t
until after that the news broke
about the Utah Jazz and the NBA
season,” Nicolle said. “But be-
cause of the many precautions
we took, we really believe the
chances of anyone getting it at
our event were very low.”
Some team members also
popped by the launch of the Nick
Nurse Foundation in Toronto on
Wednesday night, a charity to
help implement basketball, liter-
acy and music programs for kids
across the city.
Nurse, who plays guitar, per-formed a few songs with Hamil-
ton-based rock band Arkells at
the event.
One person in attendance said
news of Gobert’s positive test,
and the NBA’s decision to sus-
pend its season, broke right be-
fore they performed the short set
and Nurse left quickly after they
played.
A few days ago, Gobert, had
been captured on video making
light of the NBA’s measures to
keep players at a safe distance
from media by jokingly touching
all of their recorders and micro-
phones after his interview.
On Thursday, Gobert apol-
ogized.
“I have gone through so many
emotions since learning of my
diagnosis ... mostly fear, anxiety
and embarrassment,” Gobert
wrote on his Instagram account.
“I would like to apologize to the
people that I might have endan-
gered. 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 seri-
ously....Iamunder great care
and I will fully recover.”
Mitchell also posted about his
positive test, which came Thurs-
day.
“Thanks to everyone who has
been reaching out since hearing
the news about my positive test,”
Mitchell wrote in an Instagram
message. “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 responsibly both
for their own health and for the
well being of those around them.
“I appreciate the authorities in
Oklahoma who were helpful
with the testing process and ev-
eryone from the Utah Jazz who
have been so supportive. I am
going to keep following the ad-
vice of our medical staff and
hope that we can all come to-
gether and be there for each oth-er and our neighbors who need
our help.”
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertain-
ment released its own statement
late Thursday saying it is fully en-
gaged with the NBA, NHL and
MLS – leagues in which it has
teams that have postponed play.
“The health and safety of our
fans, teams, employees and the
general public is our highest pri-
ority at all times,” said Michael
Friisdahl, president and CEO of
MLSE. “As we work through this
difficult and unprecedented sit-
uation, we are thankful for the
understanding and support we
have received from our fans and
partners, including our leagues
and the live entertainment com-
munity. Our employees have
shown great professionalism, as
always, during this unpredictable
time, and we are currently fina-
lizing programs to assist our
part-time and event staff, made
up of close to 4,000 dedicated
event personnel.”
In addition to the suspension
of the NBA, NHL and MLS sea-
sons at Scotiabank Arena and
BMO Field, and current touring
arena shows domestically and
internationally, Toronto Rock La-
crosse games and private events
at the venues have also been
postponed.
Other NBA players reacted
Thursday to the tumultuous
2019-20 NBA season, which also
had to cope with the sudden
death of legendary player Kobe
Bryant. Cleveland Cavaliers star
Kevin Love committed
US$100,000 to help support
Cavs’ arena staff and challenged
others to support their commu-
nities.
“Don’t know what to compare
this situation to ... just gotta
buckle up and take care of your-
self and those around you,”
Golden State Warriors star Ste-
phen Curry said. “Basketball will
be back at some point but right
now, protect yourself and stay
safe out there.”Raptorsself-isolateandawaittestresults
Torontoplayerstostay
homefor14days
aftertriptoUtah,as
twoJazzplayershave
sincetestedpositivefor
thenovelcoronavirus
RACHELBRADYTORONTO
UtahJazzguardDonovanMitchelldefendsagainstachargingKyleLowryoftheTorontoRaptorsinSaltLakeCityonMonday.Mitchelltestedpositive
forthenovelcoronavirusalongwithanotherstarJazzplayer,RudyGobert.RICKBOWMER/THEASSOCIATEDPRESSEven the players – all of whom
have been told to go home and
await instructions that may be
months coming – are at risk of
creating contagion vectors
among themselves.
But occasionally the effect of
rational things is bizarre. Already,
nothing is the same. All our rou-
tines have been thrown out of
whack.
On Wednesday, we watched
Vince Carter – who has been pub-
licly retiring for years now – final-
ly pull the cord in a postgame
presser no one paid any attention
to.
“It’s a weird way to call it a ca-
reer,” Carter said.
Yes, but it’s probably the least
weird thing that’s going to hap-
pen in the next little while.
A few outliers were still trying
to hang on.
The NCAA stuck with its emp-
ty-houses approach to March
Madness until midafternoon, and
then acquiesced.
In Europe, stakeholders said
they would discuss turning Euro
2020 into Euro 2021. It won’t be a
long discussion.
These people were still living
in the world that existed in early
March. The one in which im-
pending disasters tend to fizzle.
The new reality is that Tom
Hanks has become our bellweth-er for exactly how much trouble
we’re in.
The actor announced Wednes-
day that he tested positive for
novel coronavirus. He is 63 years
old, robust and rich as Croesus.
If Hanks gets out of this okay,
people will think, “This mightnot turn out to be so awful.”
If he doesn’t, many of the
same people will give in to panic.
That’s how wild this has be-
come – keeping our collective
grip may depend on the immune
system of the guy who starred in
Turner & Hooch.
None of them is a Tom Hanks,
but athletes can still do some
good.
On the one hand, they’ve al-
ready demonstrated what not to
do. Rudy Gobert, the infected
Utah Jazz player who prompted
the NBA to pull down the shut-
ters, jokingly touched all the dig-
ital recorders at a news confer-
ence. His locker-room horseplay
may be the reason teammate Do-
novan Mitchell tested positive on
Thursday.
Don’t be a Rudy Gobert.
Instead, be an NHL. Take
strong preventive measures that,
for now, are just an interruption
in normal operating service. Even
if you don’t believe that’s true,
pretend it is.
Life will be more bearable that
way. Like happiness, optimism is
a choice.Actually, there’s a line in a Tom
Hanks movie about this, the one
in which he’s a lawyer defending
a Soviet spy.
Things keep getting worse and
Hanks keeps saying to his client,
“You don’t seem worried.”
“Would it help?” the spy says.
It won’t help.
In whatever time elapses be-
tween the end of Big Sports and it
spinning back up again, we’ll
have to find some other way to
fill our nights and weekends.
Something else to talk about,
think about and, for a few of us,
cover.
It might even be freeing.
A week ago, back when things
when different, I thought sports
would help get us through this.
That’s not going to happen now.
Their role in whatever this is go-
ing to end up being is over.
What sports have become now
is the light at the end of the tun-
nel.
We’ll know we’ve got to the
other side when sports are ramp-
ing back up. I’ve waited anxiously
for a lot of seasons to start in my
life, but never one like this.Kelly:Inthesetryingtimes,beanNHLandtakestrongpreventivemeasures
FROMB10AbillboardseenoutsideScotiabankArenaonThursdaystillannouncesa
gamebetweentheLeafsandPredators.FREDLUM/THEGLOBEANDMAILATLANTATheNationalColle-
giateAthleticAssociationsaid
Thursdaythatithadcancelled
itsDivisionImen’sandwom-
en’sbasketballtournaments
becauseofthecoronavirus
pandemic,erasingonethemost
anticipatedannualeventsonthe
Americansportscalendar.
“Thisdecisionisbasedonthe
evolvingCOVID-19publichealth
threat,ourabilitytoensurethe
eventsdonotcontributeto
spreadofthepandemic,andthe
impracticalityofhostingsuch
eventsatanytimeduringthis
academicyeargivenongoing
decisionsbyotherentities,”the
NCAAsaidinastatementthat
referredtotheillness.
TheNCAAinitiallyresponded
totheoutbreakbydeciding
Wednesdaytobarspectators
fromattendingthetournament
gamesindozensofcitiesacross
thecountry.Itslatestmove,
whichcamethedayafterthe
NBAsuspendeditsseasonwhenaplayertestedpositiveforthe
virus,meansthattheassoci-
ationwillbeunabletofulfill
networkbroadcastcontracts
thatprovidemuchofitsreve-
nue.
AlthoughtheNCAA’spresi-
dent,MarkEmmert,saidinan
interviewWednesdayevening
thathethoughtthelimitsonfan
attendancehadlefttheassoci-
ationin“therightplace,”he
declinedtoruleoutthepossibil-
ityofanoutrightcancellation.
Within24hours,mountingfears
–andawaveofconference
tournamentcancellations–led
theassociationtoscratchthe
nationalcompetitions.
Themen’stournamentwas
expectedtobeginTuesdayand
concludeinAtlantaonApril6,
whilethewomen’stournament
wasplannedtostartMarch20
andfinishinNewOrleanson
April5.
NEWYORKTIMES
NEWSSERVICENCAABASKETBALLTOURNAMENTS
CANCELLEDAMIDVIRUSOUTBREAK