On this day four years ago, Oklahoma City set off a chain reaction that led to the United States essentially shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 11, 2020, the NBA postponed the Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game due to Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19. Gobert was the first known NBA player to test positive for the virus.
Later that night, the league suspended its season. In the following days, sports leagues across the country followed suit — either suspending or canceling their seasons.
The Thunder entered that date just one game behind the Jazz for a top-four seed in the Western Conference standings. It was billed as a critical game for OKC’s chances of earning homecourt advantage in the playoffs with roughly a month left in the regular season.
Instead, it marked the unofficial start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Breaking: The Thunder-Jazz game has been postponed to a later date, per the NBA. pic.twitter.com/4z8liN5Kra
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2020
Thunder and Jazz players were sent back to the locker room as officials wait for confirmation from the NBA to start the game. pic.twitter.com/xW9sC7OKN7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2020
The league resumed its season five months later on July 30 in a bubble environment at Disney World in Florida. The Thunder were one of the 22 teams invited to the bubble, and teams weren’t allowed to leave it until their season concluded.
The league scheduled eight regular-season games for all 22 teams and also introduced the play-in tournament concept during the bubble.
The Thunder’s season ended in a Game 7 loss of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. The only Thunder players remaining from that roster are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.
Following their exit, the Thunder blew up their roster and shifted to development mode. Chris Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Steven Adams was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. Dennis Schroder was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and Danilo Gallinari signed with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Thunder also changed head coaches, going from Billy Donovan to Mark Daigneault.
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