All the latest information regarding COVID-19.
NBA
-Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the NBA and the NBAPA are discussing scenarios where 25% of players’ salaries would be withheld should the league cancel regular season games. According to ESPN, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement says players lose “approximately 1% of salary per canceled game, based on a force majeure provision, which covers several catastrophic circumstances, including epidemics and pandemics.” Once regular season games are cancelled, the force majeure provision will be automatically activated. If there is no agreement reached between the NBA and the NBAPA, then players will receive payments as normally scheduled. Woj is saying that if force majeure is triggered, it will open a 60-day negotiation period to re-work the current CBA the league has with the NBAPA. The current CBA deal runs through 2025.
-The Nets’ GM has said that the four players who tested positive for COVID-19 are now free of Coronavirus. In a conference call on Wednesday, Sean Marks revealed that all four players who originally tested positive for the disease are now symptom free. Marks said that the team’s traveling party completed its 14-day home isolation period.
NHL
-Four more members of the Ottawa Senators organization have tested positive for Coronavirus. The individuals that tested positive travelled with the team to California before the NHL season was put on pause. Members of the team have been in self-isolation since Friday, March 13th.
NFL
-The New England Patriots’ team plane was used to transport a shipment of 1.2 million N95 masks from China to the United States. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the mask transfer came after the governor of Massachusetts reached out to Team President Jonathan Kraft for help. The Krafts said, “it is an honor for our family to be a part of this humanitarian mission…” in a statement to The Boston Globe.
MLB
-The league announced the MLB London Series, which was scheduled for June 13th and 14th between the Cubs and Cardinals, has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The announcement was made by Commissioner Rob Manfred in a memo sent out yesterday.