The NBA’s nightmare scenario unfolded 6,000 miles away from Disney World last week, in two seaside cities in southwestern Russia.
On Wednesday, 48 hours before a Russian Premier League soccer match, six players from FC Rostov tested positive for the coronavirus.
On Friday, when Rostov’s game at PFC Sochi kicked off, those six players and all of their teammates were self-isolating at home.
Over the next two hours, a patchwork squad of teenage replacements lost 10-1. Rostov’s push for a Champions League berth froze. And a frightening question facing every major sport met a frightening answer.