The NBA and NCAA are doing "what I believe is the right thing" by, respectively, suspending its season and playing its tournament in mostly empty arenas, WFAN's Boomer Esiason said Thursday.
"We are now in a containment period to try to stop COVID-19 spreading uncontrollably," Esiason said on the "Boomer and Gio" show, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
What is now officially a global pandemic also impacted the "Boomer and Gio" show Thursday, as its television simulcast on the CBS Sports Network was canceled after two employees in the CBS building tested positive for coronavirus.
The NCAA announced Wednesday its men's and women's tournaments will be played in front of only essential staff and team-affiliated family members. Most conferences followed suit, including the Big East and Atlantic 10, which play their tournaments in New York.
The NBA announced Wednesday night it is suspending its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.
"They're going to put like the Knicks, the Celtics -- all these teams that have played the Jazz are all going to go into quarantine now for, I would think, a minimum of two weeks," Boomer predicted. "I can't speak for (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver. I'm not sure."
Gobert contracted the illness after making light of coronavirus Monday by touching all the microphones in front of him while leaving a news conference.
"You think about Rudy Gobert. I mean, the way that this virus spreads and how rapidly it has spread, the chance that someone else in the NBA doesn't have it is slim, right?" Gregg Giannotti, Esiason's co-host, said. "Is that fair to say?"
The NHL said Wednesday night it is evaluating its options and expects to have an update Thursday.
Major League Baseball has not announced any changes to its schedule related to coronavirus but is looking into alternative sites for home games for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners, who all play in areas where large gatherings have been banned. The MLB regular season is scheduled to begin March 26.
"They've got a couple of weeks, and this thing changes every day," Giannotti said. "Now it hasn't changed for the positive every day. Every day it seems to get worse -- there's more cases, there's now high-profile cases, of course, with Rudy Gobert and Tom Hanks."
Esiason said it's important that older people or those with underlying health conditions be very cautious now, adding that his son, Gunnar, who has cystic fibrosis, has socially isolated himself.
"For him, this is a death sentence, so we have to try to keep him as healthy as possible and out of harm's way," Boomer said. "And I would say that should be the case for everybody in that kind of category."
To listen to the open from Thursday's "Boomer and Gio" show, click on the audio player above.
