The announcement came from the league office shortly after the Jazz at Thunder game in Oklahoma City game was postponed.
That player is Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert according to multiple reports and was not at the arena Wedensday night. The NBA did not identify the player in its announcement but did say that the affected player “was not in the arena.”
The NBA’s decision to shut down follows a multitude of action being taken across the sports landscape in the wake of growing concerns over preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
The Mid American Conference is playing its annual men's and women's tournaments this week at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse without fans and the arena along with Cavs organization announced that Sunday’s Cleveland Monsters game would also be played without fans.
The NCAA announced that the March Madness tournament would also close its doors to spectators in the wake of the growing epidemic nationwide.
Ohio State has cancelled its annual spring game at Ohio Stadium. Head football coach Ryan Day announced that his staff is suspending recruiting visits to Columbus and abroad.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has closed its basketball tournaments to spectators in Cleveland, Columbus and other regional sites.
The City of Cleveland announced Wednesday the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade through downtown has been canceled.
Ohio governor Mike DeWine has recommended that large gatherings be eliminated for the foreseeable future, including sporting events, and he is expected to issue an official order on Thursday banning them until concern over the pandemic subsides.
Two more cases of coronavirus surfaced in northeast Ohio Wednesday – one in Stark county – a case DeWine characterized as “community spread” – and another in a Warren, Ohio hospital.
The state of Washington has banned large gatherings and Major League Baseball is working on contingency plans for the Seattle Mariners and other clubs for the start of the season at the end of the month.
Ivy League school presidents announced their unanimous decision to cancel all spring athletics practice and competition through the remainder of the academic year.
Earlier on Wednesday the World Health Organization labeled the coronavirus officially as a worldwide pandemic.