NBA Announces They're Significantly Limiting Media Access Amid Coronavirus Concerns
By Brendan Balsamo
The world is in a panicked frenzy right now. People are being quarantined all over the world in an effort to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, which is beginning to affect the world of sports. Serie A competition was cancelled in Italy, and the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California was canceled on Sunday afternoon, as the disease arrives on U.S. soil.
Now, the panic has come to America's major sports leagues, as the NBA is reportedly planning to limit media access to team locker rooms due to the virus concerns.
Reporting with @WindhorstESPN: NBA is planning to limit locker room access to only players and essential team personnel in wake of coronavirus. Teams are also instructed to create a 6-to-8 foot distance between players and media in availability sessions outside locker rooms.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 9, 2020
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported early on Monday that the NBA had set a conference call with team owners and governors about steps to be taken regarding the virus crisis, which was to take place on Wednesday. This decision comes well ahead of that call.
Reporting with @ZachLowe_NBA: The NBA has set a conference call with team owners/governors for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the escalating coronavirus crisis and next steps for teams, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 9, 2020
If the NBA is going this far already, it's clear teams will have to prepare their contingency plans for a league-wide curbing of attendance, which may very well be coming, even if LeBron James objects.
For now, gone are the fun and informal postgame interviews that fans have become so accustomed to. Now, fans will have to be okay with more formalized media sessions, which will make it more difficult for media members to build one-on-one relationships with the athletes they cover (and, ok, we'll say it -- players are at risk for the disease due to the amount of in-game contact they make, regardless of this decision). The sports media field and NBA fandom itself are going to be hit hard with the effects of this move.