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Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information comes out.
The city of San Francisco is reportedly banning gatherings of more than 1,000 people for the next two weeks, due to the coronavirus crisis.
The ban includes Golden State Warriors home games at Chase Center in Mission Bay. The news was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, and was shortly followed up by a statement from San Francisco mayor London Breed.
Press release from San Francisco mayor London Breed on the banning of events larger than 1,000 people, including Warriors games:
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) March 11, 2020
“Today I spoke with the Warriors to discuss the steps were taking to cancel large events and they are in support of our efforts.” pic.twitter.com/60VE3an23m
According to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, the ban is for two weeks, which means it will impact at least two Warriors games. Golden State hosts the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, and the Atlanta Hawks on March 25.
The ban is for two weeks. Given that the Warriors has a five-game road trip during that time, they'll only have to figure out what to do for two home games at the moment: tomorrow's Nets game and the March 25 game against the Hawks. https://t.co/mBb1ymNMo9
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) March 11, 2020
Marc Stein of the New York Times reports that the Warriors are being directed to play tomorrow’s game at Chase Center, but without fans.
The Warriors, league sources say, will be directed to play host to the Nets on Thursday night at Chase Center in a game CLOSED to fans
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 11, 2020
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds that the Warriors are prepared to do this for following games as well.
The Golden State Warriors are planning to play foreseeable home games without fans in observance of the San Francisco Health Office's order prohibiting group of events of 1K or more from assembling, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
The game against the Hawks is the start of a four-game homestand for the Warriors, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see those games impacted as well.
This could potentially be the tip of the iceberg for the NBA, and U.S. sports. The NBA is reportedly already exploring options for moving games, playing games without fans, and potentially even cancelling games.
NBA’s discussing a number of possibilities -- including eliminating fans from games or, more drastically, suspending game operations for a period of time. Decisions on those options remain complicated by fact there’s been such a limited amount of public testing for coronavirus. https://t.co/1XQXajNTXS
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
The World Health Organization is officially labeling the coronavirus outbreak a “pandemic,” so we may see more measures such as these across the state, country, and world.