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With several major events like SXSW being cancelled around the country due to fears of the coronavirus spreading, the NBA is preparing for the possibility that they may have to play games without fans in attendance.
On Friday night, the league sent a memo to all franchises to tell them to get ready just in case they had to play games without fans in arenas due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Sources: The NBA has sent a memo to its franchises explaining that, due to coronavirus outbreak, teams should be preparing to play games without fans in attendance and identifying “essential staff” present for these games — should it be necessary.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2020
NBA has been sending several informational memos to teams in order to prepare for whatever develops from coronavirus situation. A reminder of existing rules regarding postponement or cancellations of games was provided Friday night. https://t.co/17ac6wSiDt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2020
After the Lakers-Bucks game, LeBron was asked about the possibility of playing without fans in attendance and he didn’t want to hear it.
“Nah, it’s impossible,” “I ain’t playing.
“If I ain’t got the fans in the crowd; that’s who I play for. I play for my teammates, I play for the fans. That’s what it’s all about. If I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing.
“So, they can do what they wanna do.”
“We play games without the fans? Nah, that’s impossible. I ain’t playing, if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd, that’s who I play for.
—LeBron James on the possibility of playing games without fans in attendance due to concerns from the Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/E3Yb41YfCK
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 7, 2020
As of now it’s unclear what would happen if the NBA does decide to hold games without fans but they should have probably checked in with players before sending out the memo to franchises.