As North American professional sport leagues attempt to put into motion plans to return from suspended seasons, a major league clear across the world has decided it won’t be restarting any time soon.
According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has postponed its season until at least July.
“Sources told ESPN that league officials met overnight to discuss the fate of its season, which has been on hold since Jan. 24, and elected to postpone its calendar again, this time until at least July,” the report read.
The original epicenter of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, China suspended its basketball league nearly three months ago. And while things have slowed down in the Eastern metropolis, a second wave of illnesses has forced their hand.
This is most definitely not good news when it comes to professional sports returning in the United States. After all, it is currently the epicenter of the pandemic with nearly 590,000 confirmed cases and 23,600-plus deaths.
The NBA has attempted to figure out when/if the season will start up again after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test suspended the campaign about a month ago. One plan includes playing games in Las Vegas. As of right now, that seems to be a pipe dream.
MLB’s season has been suspended until further notice while the start of the 2020 NFL season appears to be in question right now.
News from China on Tuesday adds a completely new layer to all of this. Even if fans are not in attendance, we likely won’t see live sports in the United States for the foreseeable future.