The Effect of Coronavirus on Professional Sports

Although this is not the first time that the NBA has shortened its season, it is one of only a few times that this has ever happened. On Wednesday, March 11, 2020 the NBA announced that they would be suspending all games indefinitely that would go into effect the next day. This announcement came shortly after the Golden State Warriors announced that they wouldn’t be allowing any fans to attend their home games due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time in my life that I remember any sports league suspending part of their season. Along with the NBA, the NHL, MLB, and the MLS, amongst many other sports leagues have also postponed or suspended their seasons. I believe that the cancellation of all major sporting events was a necessary action in order to prevent the spread of the sickness. Although this sickness is not necessarily a major threat to most people in the general population, it is extremely dangerous for those people who have compromised immune systems or preexisting conditions such as people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma.  I also think that in order to protect the safety of all of the players, officials, coaches, and team personnel that the season needed to be put on pause. The Coronavirus is extremely contagious and can live on hard surfaces for up to three days. Therefore, if they have players, coaches, etc. using an away locker room in a stadium one day and someone on their team has COVID-19 any of the players or coaches on the team that uses the locker room the next day are at a huge risk of contracting the sickness. Additionally, in order to help the hospitals manage the amount of people who are coming in with severe symptoms of the Coronavirus we need to help slow the spread of the disease. By limiting the amount of people who are allowed to be in one place at a time we are helping slow the spread of Coronavirus. At this point most people have realized that a lot of people are going to get COVID-19 and that hospitals are not going to be able to handle the amount of people that are coming in with severe respiratory symptoms and need treatment. The NBA suspending its season is extremely disappointing to the millions of people who watch the games each and every day, but this suspension was necessary in order to protect the players, coaches, and fans who are at high risk if they develop COVID-19.