THE 2020 SPORTS TIMELINE
JANUARY
JAN. 13: Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch are suspended by Major League Baseball, and later fired by owner Jim Crane, after the team was revealed to have stolen signs en route to its 2017 World Series win over the Dodgers.
JAN. 13: Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow leads Louisiana State to a 42-25 win over Clemson in the College Football Playoff national championship game, capping a 15-0 season.
JAN. 14: The WNBA collective bargaining agreement breaks new ground. The union executive committee called the deal “groundbreaking” as it includes salary raises, improved conditions for travel and expanded benefits for mothers. The CBA increases the average player salary into six figures for the first time.
JAN. 16: The Galaxy sign Chicharito Hernández. The El Tri star is the latest big-name signing for the Galaxy, who are in the midst of rebuilding since finishing last in the league in 2017.
JAN. 25: With “Mamba 4 Life” written on his game shoes, LeBron James moves past Kobe Bryant for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 29 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
JAN. 26: Bryant and his 13-yearold daughter Gianna are traveling to a basketball tournament when their helicopter crashes in Calabasas. The crash kills them along with Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa; Gigi Bryant’s teammate Payton Chester and her mother, Sarah; assistant coach Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan.
FEBRUARY
FEB. 2: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes leads the Kansas City Chiefs to their third straight 10point comeback in a playoff game to win the team’s second Super Bowl and first since 1969. With the 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, coach Andy Reid wins his first Super Bowl.
FEB. 5: A blockbuster trade that involves three teams and eight players sends Mookie Betts and pitcher David Price to Los Angeles. Betts agrees to a one-year deal with the Dodgers as he approaches free agency.
FEB. 24: Fans and celebrities pack Staples Center to remember Bryant and his daughter in a ceremony that features speeches from Vanessa Bryant, Michael Jordan and Diana Taurasi.
MARCH
MARCH 7: Jonah Mathews stuns UCLA. The USC senior finishes his college career with a buzzerbeating three-pointer against rival UCLA at Galen Center in a 54-52 win that clinches a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament for the Trojans. The COVID-19 pandemic swept the country only days later.
MARCH 11: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is the first NBA player to test positive for the novel coronavirus, prompting the league to shut down for 30 days. Sports across the country come to a halt.
MARCH 12: Five days before the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was scheduled to start, the NCAA cancels all championship tournaments for the remainder of the academic year because of the pandemic.
MARCH 24: The Olympics are postponed for the first time in their modern history, marking just the fourth time since 1896 that outside forces drastically altered the event. The other three instances were cancellations during World War I and II.
APRIL
APRIL 17: The WNBA welcomes No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu, who goes to the New York Liberty; and celebrates Gigi Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester as honorary draft picks after the young players with WNBA aspirations died in January. The event is the mostwatched WNBA draft in 16 years. APRIL 23: The Chargers draft Justin Herbert sixth overall. The Oregon quarterback makes his first NFL start Sept. 20 when a member of the team’s medical staff punctures quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s lung while administering a pregame pain injection.
MAY
MAY 26: After pausing in March and waiting two months, the NHL cancels the rest of its regular season and announces plans to jump to a 24-team postseason.
JUNE
JUNE 22: As issues of racial injustice come to the forefront following George Floyd’s death on May 25, NASCAR unites behind its sole Black driver after Bubba Wallace’s crew finds a rope tied like a noose in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway.
JUNE 27: The NWSL’s Challenge Cup in Sandy, Utah, marks the return of team contact sports in the United States during the pandemic. The league hosts the tournament without one positive case among players and crowns the Houston Dash as Challenge Cup champions.