Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on basketball
[3] The launch of the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League set for March 2020 was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
[5] However, China Basketball Association (CBA) chairman Yao Ming announced that the season will restart on 20 June, without spectators.
[11] Several fixtures of the ASEAN Basketball League 2019–20 season scheduled in February onwards were rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In early March 2020, four participating teams, Alab Pilipinas, Hong Kong Eastern, Macau Black Bears and Formosa Dreamers has released statements urging the suspension of the whole season due to logistical issues posed by COVID-19-related travel measures in Southeast Asia, mainland China and Taiwan.
[23] Lithuania, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Ukraine canceled outright their respective first division leagues, naming the teams in the top of the standings as champions.
Top flight divisions in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Finland, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Cyprus, and Czech Republic suspended its games as of 14 March.
The format was changed and the top 12 teams after round 23 played the games behind closed doors in La Fonteta (Valencia) to win the championship.
[36] Also, both organizations agreed to create a support plan for the LEB Oro intended to alleviate the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to guarantee the broadcast of all the matches of the league.
[43] On 11 March 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — the main U.S. sanctioning body for college athletics — initially announced that its winter-semester championships and tournaments, including its popular men's and women's Division I basketball tournaments, would be conducted behind closed doors with "only essential staff and limited family attendance".
The Big East's tournament was cancelled in the middle of its first quarter-final game, which marked the final sporting event of the 2019–20 season.
[50][51][52] On 11 March 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its 2019–20 season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus prior to tip-off for a scheduled game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
[55] On 3 April, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced that they had postponed the start of training camp and regular season which was originally scheduled for 15 May.
[57] The 2020 WNBA season was held in a "bubble" setting at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida starting on 25 July and ending when the Seattle Storm completed a three-games-to-none sweep of the Las Vegas Aces to win the league championship on 6 October.
On 4 June, the NBA announced that the season would restart on 31 July for 22 teams still in playoff contention at the time of the suspension, and would finish no later than 12 October.
Professional teams such as the Houston Rockets saw their seasons impacted as players like all-star Russell Westbrook tested positive for COVID-19.
[58] On 30 July, the NBA season officially resumed in a "bubble" setting at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida.
The earliest allowable date for games in the 2020–21 season was pushed back from 10 to 25 November, when most campuses would have either concluded their fall term or moved remaining classes online.
The NCAA recommended conferences apply for a technology waiver to allow transmission of live statistics to the bench area using electronic devices.
The Maui Invitational was moved from Lahaina, Hawaii to Asheville, North Carolina, while the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas was cancelled outright.
A new tournament known as the Crossover Classic was organized in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as an unofficial substitute, initially inviting most of the teams originally committed to Battle 4 Atlantis (although many of them would later drop out).
[61] The Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut hosted a two-week series of non-conference games known as "Bubbleville", organized by Gazelle Group and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which primarily featured showcases and tournaments organized by the two (such as the Empire Classic, Hall of Fame Tip Off, and Legends Classic).
The championship game took place at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, marking the first time in the NIT's 83-year history that Madison Square Garden in New York City did not stage the final.
As the playoffs began, more teams then started allowing full capacity crowds at their arenas, with masking and vaccination restrictions in place.
Due to ongoing restrictions on traffic on the Canada–United States border, the Toronto Raptors moved home games to Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
[68] On 8 January 2021, the G League announced plans to run its entire season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The Maui Invitational was moved to the mainland for the second season in a row, landing at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Paradise, Nevada.
As a result, Kyrie Irving, who refused to be vaccinated, did not make his season debut until 5 January 2022 against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
On 8 December, the NBA further revised the protocols; as of 15 January 2022, unvaccinated players will not be allowed to participate in Toronto Raptors home games.
[74] After Game 3—trailing 2–1 in a best-of-five series—the Kings announced 17 March that they would withdraw from the Finals, due to "a critical mass of relevant and actual concerns related to player welfare and the club's social responsibility".
