Restarting the CBA season now has been pushed back to late April or early MayGETTY IMAGES
The Chinese government issued an order today delaying the restart of the Chinese Basketball Association and other group sporting events, and it is "disappointing for sure, especially" looking to the "future of the NBA and pro sports here,” according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Leagues across the world are "watching the Chinese and how they handle this because they are ahead of everybody in dealing with this virus” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 3/31). ESPN.com's Windhorst noted China's General Administration of Sport "gave no timetable on when it plans to lift the new restriction." The CBA had been "making plans to split its 20 teams and send them to two cities and have them play each other in empty arenas within a month, a plan the NBA might consider down the line." Sources said that while the spread of the disease has "slowed dramatically in China and some aspects of life are headed toward normalcy, sports officials are concerned about asymptomatic carriers." The CBA "planned to house teams in quarantined hotels with multiple temperature checks per day to try to avoid the risk of exposure and spread of the virus." The teams had "begun holding practices as they waited for their foreign teammates to be cleared to join them." It "wasn't immediately clear if these would be allowed to continue" (ESPN.com, 3/31).
