Silver will shut down restart if significant virus spread occurs
The NBA season could again be put on hold if there is a “significant spread” of COVID-19 among its players in Orlando, where the league is set to resume play on July 30 with no fans in attendance, commissioner Adam Silver said on Friday.
The NBA was the first major North American league to suspend its season in mid-March after a player tested positive for the novel coronavirus. It recently agreed on a plan with its players to restart with 22 teams at Disney World in Florida.
But if the number of cases inside the NBA’s so-called “bubble” rises, “that may lead us to stopping” play, Silver told ESPN.
Silver’s comments came on the day the NBA and the players association have finalized terms of the deal that will allow the league to restart the season.
Silver said the record number of cases in Florida recently has raised the level of concern but added that the use of the campus — where players will live, practice and play — is designed to limit risk of exposure to the surrounding community. Players are scheduled to begin traveling to Orlando on July 7 with tip-off set for July 30.
Silver’s remarks came on the same day the NBA reported that 16 out of 302 players tested for COVID-19 on June 23 had tested positive. The league did not disclose the identities of the players.
Those 16 players were part of a pool of 302 tested on Tuesday in the first wave of mandatory tests done in preparation for the restart of the season. Golf
MICKELSON SURGES INTO LEAD AT
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP >> A week after his 50th birthday, Phil Mickelson proved Friday that he isn’t ready to leave the PGA Tour for the Champions circuit.
The five-time major champion fired a 7-under-par 63 to take a one-shot lead in the second round of the Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Connecticut.
Mickelson is at 13-under 127 at the midway point. Will Gordon, who shot an 8-under 62 on Friday at TPC River Highlands, is tied for second with first-round leader Mackenzie Hughes, both at 12 under.
Hughes followed a career-best 60 on Thursday with a 68 on Friday.
Rory McIlroy (68 on Friday) and Xander Schauffele (68) and Brendan Steele (62) sit at 9-under 131.
Meanwhile, Denny McCarthy withdrew after becoming the third PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19. McCarthy shot a 3-under-par 67 during the first round on Thursday.
“I was feeling pretty tired and sore after the round yesterday but didn’t think much of it because I had practiced a lot Monday to Wednesday,” McCarthy said. “Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with additional aches and soreness and sensed something was off. I felt like the only thing to do was get tested at that point before I went to the course.”
He and Bud Cauley, who pulled out Friday as a precaution, became the seventh and eighth players to withdraw from the Travelers. Motorsports
INDIANAPOLIS 500 WILL RUN WITH 50% FAN CAPACITY AT SPEEDWAY >>
The Indianapolis 500 will run in August with 50% fan capacity, a total that could still hit six figures at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 104th Indy 500 will run Aug. 23 at half the total of what is traditionally one of the biggest sporting events of the year. “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” can pack about 250,000 fans in the spacious speedway, leaving plenty of room if the total is limited to half that total. College sports
‘CIVIL WAR’ NO MORE FOR OREGON,
OREGON STATE >> Oregon and Oregon State have agreed to drop the name “Civil War” for their rivalry games. The move Friday was made after discussions between officials at both schools and current and former student-athletes.
Oregon State president Ed Ray said the Civil War name “represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery.”
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullins said former Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon raised the issue of the name. The football series between Oregon and Oregon State has been played 123 times. MOREHOUSE CANCELS FOOTBALL
SEASON >> Division II Morehouse College canceled its 2020 football season because of coronavirus concerns. The Historically Black College in Atlanta is believed to the first scholarship football program to take this step. Tennis
IVANISEVIC, THE COACH OF DJOKOVIC, TESTS POSITIVE FOR VI
RUS >> Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, who now coaches Novak Djokovic and attended the top-ranked player’s exhibition series in Serbia and Croatia, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Boxing
EX-CHAMP ROBERTO DURÁN TESTS
POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS >> Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who held world championships in four weight classes during his more than three-decade career, has tested positive for the coronavirus but has had only mild symptoms so far, one of his sons said Thursday.
Robin Durán said his 69-yearold father was tested after going to a hospital with cold symptoms. Soccer
NWSL TAKES FIELD FIRST >> The National Women’s Soccer League opens its Challenge Cup tournament today and the pressure is on as it becomes the first professional team sports league to play in the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The NWSL is taking the field as other professional leagues chart their immediate futures and as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the nation.
The players and staffs of the eight teams participating in the World Cup-style tournament in Utah are being sequestered.
CHINEY OGWUMIKE TO SIT OUT
SPARKS’ SEASON >> The Los Angeles Sparks will be without Chiney Ogwumike and Kristi Toliver for the WNBA season so they can focus on their health the team announced.
Ogwumike, the No. 1 pick by the Connecticut Sun in 2014, has missed two seasons to deal with injuries and with the shortened schedule felt that it would be smart to rest. She missed the 2015 with a knee injury and 2017 because of an Achilles tendon injury.