LOS ANGELES (AFP) – LeBron James on Tuesday backtracked from a threat not to play if the NBA decides to force teams to stage games behind closed doors as the league grapples with the coronavirus threat.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers star said he would refuse to play if the league bars fans from venues as part of efforts to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“We play games without the fans? Nah, that’s impossible,” James said.
“I ain’t playing if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd. That’s who I play for. I play for my teammates, and I play for the fans.”
“That’s what it’s all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”
However on Tuesday, James softened his position, saying he would do whatever authorities recommended to curb exposure to the virus.
Other players in the NBA have been lukewarm about the possibility of playing in empty arenas.
“If there’s no fans, they might as well drive up here and let’s play in the practice facility,” Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard told The Oregonian newspaper.
On Monday, the NBA announced it was joining Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball in a new policy to restrict access to team locker rooms.
As of Tuesday, members of the media are no longer allowed to enter team locker rooms to speak to players after games or practice.
Arsenal’s game at Manchester City was postponed on Wednesday after players from the London club were put into quarantine, making it the first Premier League fixture to be called off because of the new coronavirus.
Arsenal said players and four staff had been isolated at their homes after coming into contact with the owner of Greek club Olympiakos, who has tested positive for COVID-19.
EMPTY ARENAS
The day after Italy cancelled all domestic sport, the French, Spanish, Germans and Portuguese announced matches will be played in empty stadia while some games in the Netherlands were cancelled.
In Greece, where “mass gatherings” were banned last week, Thursday’s torch lighting ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators.
In the United States, motor cycling’s Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin joined the casualties when it was postponed from April to November.
Algeria and the Czech Republic also joined the growing list of countries banning events with crowds.
Real Madrid’s game against Eibar at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday will be the first fixture affected.
Barcelona had earlier confirmed their Champions League tie against Napoli at the Camp Nou on March 18 would be played without spectators.