Suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season

On March 11, 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19,[1] which occurred around the same time as COVID-19 lockdowns began in both the United States and Canada.

[2] On August 26, the season was suspended for a second time due to a wildcat strike during the playoffs in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake.

[5] In early March, the NBA recommended that players use fist bumps instead of high fives with fans and avoid taking items to autograph.

[9] The Cleveland Cavaliers had also planned to play home games without fans, due to Ohio governor Mike DeWine banning mass gatherings in the state.

[10] On March 11, the NBA indefinitely suspended the season for at least 30 days after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the tip-off of the Jazz–Thunder game in Oklahoma City.

[18] Following CDC recommendation that events of 50 or more persons be canceled for up to eight weeks, the NBA presented a best-case scenario of a return to play in June 2020, with the season ending in August 2020.

[22] A memo sent to the NBA teams on March 15 allowed for players to travel out of their market provided they quarantined, do physical distancing, and give notices of their whereabouts.

[23] On April 6, Ernie Johnson of the NBA on TNT conducted an interview with Silver over videotelephony, which was posted to the league's Twitter account.

[26][27][28][29][30] The Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons were among the first to announce plans that would pay their workers for the days they missed due to the suspension of the league.

[5] On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (with the lone dissenter being the Portland Trail Blazers) resuming the 2019–20 season in Orlando, Florida in a bubble at Walt Disney World, after prior consideration of Las Vegas and Houston as potential spots.

[40] The following is a list of NBA players and personnel from the 2019–20 season that are known to have been infected: On March 12, during a special edition of Inside the NBA, Hall of Fame player and analyst Charles Barkley revealed he was tested for COVID-19 after suffering from an illness following a recent trip to New York, which was rapidly becoming the worst hit locality of the U.S. pandemic.

[63] On the same day, it was reported that a cameraman who worked the Jazz–Pistons game on March 7 at Little Caesars Arena had been infected and was placed in a medically induced coma.

[67] On March 27, ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke revealed she was symptom-free after testing positive for COVID-19 two weeks earlier.