Former NBA star Stephon Marbury gave NBA Commissioner Adam Silver an early warning about the coronavirus mere days before the league was put on hold.
As head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters, Marbury witnessed firsthand how the virus stole lives and disrupted local businesses and families in China. He knew how bad things were about to get in America and reached out to Silver. Marbury elaborated in an interview with The Undefeated.
"I’m constantly being informed about what was going on because, I mean, this is my home as well, China. So, I’m having this feeling about what’s happening with my friends, the people that I love here and seeing how everything was taking place," he said.
On March 8, Marbury sent an email to Silver.
"You guys got to stop," he wrote. "This is not good. You got, like, 17,000, 18,000 people going to games and people don’t know if they’re infected or not. This could happen. One of the basketball players can get infected. Anything can happen."
Marbury was worried about the league's players, fans and their families.
"My concern is for everybody. It’s bigger than basketball. You got guys getting sick and they can’t play. I mean, what’s the use? There is no point or no purpose. I think that it’s going to be a really big challenge for the [NBA] season to get going this year."
Three days after he sent the email through, the NBA suspended play after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus. At first the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas, but they were forced to put all games on hold "until further notice" as the virus crept into locker rooms.
The NBA said it would "use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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