The New Orleans Pelicans players made an executive decision for themselves last night before their game against the Sacramento Kings.
Shortly after the NBA suspended the season indefinitely when Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus, the Pelicans-Kings contest ended up being cancelled. The game was still supposed to go on as scheduled, but, per reports, Pelicans players decided they weren’t leaving the locker room.
Referee Courtney Kirkland was one of the officials scheduled to work the Pelicans-Kings game had worked a Jazz game earlier this week. When the players found that out, they decided the safest thing for them to do was to not play.
Of course, fans weren’t happy about it. Owners weren’t either.
This little girl at Kings/Pelicans is all NBA fans right now. pic.twitter.com/axiebHpX8B
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 12, 2020
They waited until three minutes before tip to postpone Kings/Pelicans. Absurd. https://t.co/zcv7vTPeXt
— Greg (@gwiss) March 12, 2020
NBA owners and executives have slammed league office with a myriad of procedural and bigger picture questions. The league’s response: Sit tight until Thursday and let us work through it all. Some teams are planning to close facilities today and give players a couple of days away.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
But, look, we’ve got to be real here.
Some people don’t show symptoms immediately. Some do. Being as safe as possible should be the number one priority for literally everyone here. This thing needs to be taken seriously. Good on the players for realizing that and not making themselves play a game that could’ve easily put them in real danger.
They have a right to protect their health just like anyone else does. At this point, the game comes secondary.
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