John Collins found out the NBA was suspending its season while standing at the free-throw line Wednesday night.
In the fourth quarter of the Hawks’ overtime loss to the Knicks at State Farm Arena, Collins heard the news from teammates on the bench, and a few of the Knicks players confirmed they’d been told the same thing. Information on how the sports world, and country overall, is handling coronavirus was changing by the hour, shifting an environment where players are typically hyper-focused into one of confusion and uncertainty.
“It’s tough,” Collins said after the loss. “It’s really tough. Every NBA player puts their life into this game. For it to be cut short, it hurts. Especially early, when you have so much unfinished business that you feel like you needed to handle. All the hard work you put in to go out there to prove and show people what you have, what you’re made of. It’s something that you can’t control. You just have to be as professional as you can and move forward.”
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The Hawks (20-47) had 15 games left in a disappointing season. It's an abrupt ending, one the power forward is grappling with — at this point, no one knows if those games will end up being rescheduled or canceled, and there has been no word from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver yet. The league's decision follows Utah's Rudy Gobert testing positive for coronavirus, with teams that have played the Jazz within the past 10 days asked to self-quarantine, according to ESPN (that includes the Knicks). According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, a second Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive for the virus Thursday.
What the Hawks do know, though, is that safety is the main priority. While waiting on more information, the team is taking Thursday off and has been told to stay home and avoid the practice facility.
The consensus among the team is that suspending the season and exercising caution was the right call, even if it’s a tough pill to swallow for players who wanted to finish strong.
“Fear, when you start worrying about what’s happening or what could happen, that’s the wrong thing to do,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Trying to play games and trying to bring people into the stadium. It was expected.”
For Trae Young, who sent the game to overtime after scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter, learning from his father just before the quarter began that the season would be suspended, basketball was the last thing on his mind.
“For me, I could care less about the game tonight,” Young said. “It’s more about people’s health. First off, Rudy, praying for him. I know it’s a lot, thinking about it. This sucks. This could happen to anybody, but to be that person that everybody is talking about as the reason why it’s canceled, I feel for him. Praying for him first. It’s a difficult time. It’s a weird time from everybody talking about playing with no fans in college basketball, March Madess, playing with no fans, everything is just weird right now. We’re trying to handle it as best as we can, and this team and our front office has done a great job communicating with us on everything.”
To try and limit the spread of coronavirus, the NBA had already put new guidelines in place for media and was considering playing games without fans present at arenas. A player (now two) coming down with the virus, though, prompted swifter, more drastic action.
Vince Carter’s 22nd season may have just come to an abrupt end (with 15 games of eligibility left, he joked postgame), but Carter recognizes the need to prioritize the health not just of NBA players, but of those they could come into contact with.
“That’s what it’s all about, is safety,” Carter said. “You feel for Gobert and being in his situation and it’s a lot of things at stake, when you think about this. I think even worrying about ‘Aw man, I didn’t get to play my last 15 games,’ that’s selfish, because safety and everybody’s health is more important for me. ... I understand what’s the big picture, which is safety. Not even for us as players, but moving forward for parents and grandparents, getting around.”
Actual basketball isn't the focus Thursday. But as far as the season that has been clipped short, the Hawks, in 14th place out of 15 Eastern Conference teams, already had eyes on next year, with Pierce mentioning he thinks they'll be a playoff team.
Any high hopes for this season, and how far along the Hawks were in the rebuilding process, were dashed with a flurry of injuries, minimal contributions from veterans the team acquired in the offseason and Collins’ 25-game suspension. The team’s record bottomed out at 8-32 on Jan. 12.
If Wednesday’s game does in fact conclude the team’s season, Young would want the team’s progress and potential to be the focus.
“At the end, we’re all starting to click,” Young said. “We’re all starting to get it going. Obviously making the trade to get Dewayne (Dedmon) back, get Clint (Capela), get Skal (Labissiere), we haven’t even seen those two yet. So I’d want people just to realize that this season, it was what it was. We didn’t have a successful season, as far as wins and losses, but as far as growing together, getting our chemistry right and getting ready for when we’re all healthy and we’re all here together next year, I think it’s going to be a success, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can all do together when everybody’s out there.”
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