After the Timberwolves had shoot-around in New Orleans on March 3, guard D’Angelo Russell took a little bottle of hand sanitizer and gave a little squirt to surrounding teammates, staff and media members. Nobody left the arena that morning without some of Russell’s supply.
Russell remarked about how he was concerned about the spread of coronavirus. Most there laughed off Russell’s actions as unnecessary.
But just over a week later, nobody was laughing.
The NBA was at the forefront of the response of the sports world to coronavirus. It was the first major professional sports league to suspend its season, shortly after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive Wednesday night.