Other Basketball Leagues Postponed Due to COVID-19

It looks like most basketball fans will be spending their free time on their PS4 consoles, playing NBA 2K20. Why?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has suspended all NBA-related activities due to the confirmation that Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz have tested positive to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). It is reported that the games will be suspended in the next 30 days before the NBA will decide on its next move whether to start the playoffs with the current team standings or, continue postponing the games. With the said virus still spreading out at an alarming rate, hoops fans here in the Philippines may be heading towards a basketball-less summer as more leagues have announced suspensions of their respective games to ensure the safety of players, coaches, officials, and fans.  

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has already started off by postponing the Olympic qualifying tournament for the 3x3 challenge in which Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 led by CJ Perez was supposed to play in. Earlier this week, the Phillippine Basketball Association (PBA) followed suit by suspending all PBA activities while hoping to resume in three weeks' time if things normalize. The National Basketball League (NBL)-Philippines which is among the top leagues featuring homegrown players, is scheduled to have its playoffs start this weekend but has been rescheduled for next weekend due to COVID-19. The opening of the second season of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL)-Philippines has also been rescheduled from March 14  to March 22. 

And just yesterday, the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball Leauge (MPBL) has announced that it's indefinitely postponing the two Game Threes between Makati and San Juan, and Basilan and Davao.

Clearly, COVID-19 has paralyzed not just basketball games in and out of the country but all other sports worldwide as leagues of different sports have announced suspensions too. For now, basketball fanatics will have to stick to their PlayStation 4 (PS4) until such time when COVID-19 is no more. 

Photo is from the nba.com