--- description: The NBA said the Utah Jazz player "preliminarily tested positive" for COVID-19 before a game. title: NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb642cc78386ebffe/698a0b75096a94b0a16a7dd4/NBA-suspends-season.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [COVID-19](/tag/covid-19/) ## COVID-19 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus ## Video: World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 a 'Pandemic' [Watch (HLS stream): World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 a 'Pandemic'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TCNv9IGc.m3u8) (0:56)  _Published 2020-03-11. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic, pointing to the over 118,000 cases of the coronavirus illness in over 110 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of further global spread._  by [Peter Allen Clark](/author/peter-allen-clark/)  ## Peter Allen Clark Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2020 2:01 AM CUT  Basketball fans clear out after it is announced that an NBA basketball game between Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz in Oklahoma City has been postponed, Wednesday, March 11, 2020\. The NBA has suspended all games amid coronavirus fears after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. Basketball fans clear out after it is announced that an NBA basketball game between Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz in Oklahoma City has been postponed, Wednesday, March 11, 2020\. The NBA has suspended all games amid coronavirus fears after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus.Kyle Phillips—AP  by [Peter Allen Clark](/author/peter-allen-clark/)  ## Peter Allen Clark Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2020 2:01 AM CUT The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced Wednesday night that it was suspending its season after a player tested positive for [COVID-19](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/ "undefined"). [The NBA said](https://www.nba.com/article/2020/03/11/nba-suspend-season-following-wednesdays-games?collection=news "undefined") the Utah Jazz player “preliminarily tested positive” for COVID-19 before a game. The statement said Wednesday’s game between the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder was canceled before it began and that the player who tested positive was not in the arena. The Associated Press, citing a source, identified the player as Rudy Gobert. “The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” a statement read. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.” Previously, it had been floated that the NBA might continue to play games, only without fans. The goal of this being to limit large gatherings, which could increase the spread of the virus. Los Angeles Lakers star [Lebron James said last week](https://time.com/5798799/lebron-james-fans-games-coronavirus-nba/ "undefined") that he wouldn’t play if games were held without fans. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/"},"headline":"NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus","datePublished":"2020-03-12T02:01:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:26:07.000Z","description":"Previously, it had been floated that the NBA might continue to play games, only without fans","url":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/","keywords":["COVID-19","NBA","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb642cc78386ebffe/698a0b75096a94b0a16a7dd4/NBA-suspends-season.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Peter Allen Clark","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/peter-allen-clark/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb642cc78386ebffe/698a0b75096a94b0a16a7dd4/NBA-suspends-season.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jazz Thunder Basketball","caption":"Jazz Thunder Basketball","creditText":"Kyle Phillips—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/","name":"NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 a 'Pandemic'","description":"The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic, pointing to the over 118,000 cases of the coronavirus illness in over 110 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of further global spread.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TCNv9IGc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-03-11T17:25:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TCNv9IGc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5801545/nba-suspends-season-coronavirus/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```