Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James told reporters on Monday that it’s “impossible” for his team to play without “fans in the crowd,” as the National Basketball Association plans its response to the coronavirus.
ESPN reports that the NBA is considering limiting the number of fans at games, including the possibility of playing games entirely without fans in attendance, in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of the coronavirus, known officially as COVID-19, spreading at basketball games.
"We play games without the fans? Nah, that's impossible," James said after the Lakers played the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, in a video from Bleacher Report. "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, and I play for the fans. That's what it's all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain't no fans in there, I ain't playing. They can do what they want to do."
A Division III National College Athletics Association Tournament basketball game on Friday was played in an empty gym after fans were prohibited from attending the game, the first time this measure has been taken in a U.S. Italy recently announced that all sporting events in the country will be held without fans for the rest of the month in response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Associated Press. More than 100 people in the country have died from the virus, with more than 3,000 infected.
NBA teams have been told to prepare for new plans to help prevent the outbreak from spreading, and the league is currently evaluating how the virus could affect overseas workouts and scouting.
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