LOS ANGELES -- The NBA announced that it will suspend the season after the Wednesday night schedule until further notice as it deals with the coronavirus pandemic.

ACCOLADES continue to pour in for currently injured big man June Mar Fajardo of the San Miguel Beermen as he leads the roster of awardees at the 2019 PBA Press Corps Awards Night set for March 16 at the Novotel Manila in Araneta City.

MAKATI-SUPER Crunch survived a late surge from North leader San Juan-Go For Gold, 91-88, in a game that was held in closed doors to forge a decider in the 2020 Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Lakan North Division Finals, Wednesday, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

And so the worst has come to pass. The National Basketball Association has decided to suspend the 2019–20 season until further notice. In a statement issued yesterday, it said it will “use the hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.” Evidently, the commissioner’s office deemed the choice, however extreme, to be most prudent after it found All-Star Rudy Gobert to have “preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.” Prior to the turn of events, the Jazz and Thunder were supposed to face off at Chesapeake Energy Arena. In fact, they were ready for tip-off, only to be sent back to their locker rooms while fans lay in wait. After half an hour passed, an announcement was officially made on the postponement of the match “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

FOLLOWING a successful staging of its opening for Season 45 last weekend, the Philippine Basketball Association moved to postpone matches in the just-started All-Filipino tournament over concerns on the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

KAYA FC-Iloilo stayed undefeated and at the top half of Group H in the 2020 AFC Cup group play after a 1-1 draw with PSM Makassar in an away match in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday. But the Philippine club admitted that it would have been far better if it came out with a victory.

WHILE Season 83 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines is still months away, the UP men’s basketball team is all set to go on gear-up mode as it begins its preparations, eyeing training abroad and joining various tournaments.

LOS ANGELES -- Spencer Dinwiddie scored 23 points and hit the go-ahead basket, and Caris LeVert added 22 points as the Brooklyn Nets surprised the host Los Angeles Lakers 104-102 on Tuesday night.

I am sure most of our readers have seen the famous 1858 Morphy versus Duke of Brunswick game played at an opera house in Paris. It has been called the most famous game in chess history.

The novel coronavirus has affected even sports. Major organizations are now preventing members of the media from accessing locker rooms after matches, with pressers held in strict compliance of social distancing measures. Other decisions will most likely be made on an as-needed basis, but preparations for any contingency are already being done. National Basketball Association teams have been told to be open to the possibility of holding matches without any paying spectators on hand, initially thumbed down by the Lakers’ LeBron James, by far the league’s biggest draw, but later on accepted as a worst-case option in the interest of public health.

FOR the second time this season the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) forced the University Athletic Association of the Philippines to make an adjustment in its volleyball calendar.

HAD ONE of the more stellar rookie seasons in recent Philippine Basketball Association history last year, Columbian Dyip star CJ Perez looks to have more team success and to continue his improvement as he embarks on his second year in the league.