By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Danilo Gallinari discussed the coronavirus effect on sports worldwide on Tuesday adding that he would be OK of closing games to fans if the situation worsens in the USA. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward has seen the impact of the virus in Italy and the rest of Europe with many games being contested behind closed doors, postponed or relocated.
“I am in favor, because I see everything that’s been going on in Europe, not just in Italy,” he pointed out, ESPN relays, “In all of Europe, they stopped every game, they stopped every competition, in between countries too, so it’s not just Italy. The steps they did were playing normal games, then games without fans and now they’re not playing. So until like April 6 or April 15, every competition is stopped.”
NBA warned teams of possibly restricting the audience in future games. “Hopefully we don’t get to that point where we don’t play games anymore, but maybe as a step forward to play some games with no fans,” mentioned Gallinari, “Hopefully that doesn’t happen, of course, because playing without fans is a huge change for a player too, when you play the game. But it’s something the league has to do in order to prevent what’s going on in Italy and not have it go on in the States too.”
“It’s a tough situation, and hopefully we’ll be able to manage it and manage it right,” he said regarding his country, “The hospitals and all the health care institutions have done a great job right now managing the virus. We need all the people and the citizens to do the same thing and behave in the right way. Because that’s going to be crucial in order to not have too many people in the hospitals and have doctors not be able to handle all the pressure.”
“The life has changed when you can not get out of the house when you can not have any contact with anybody,” he added on the impact of the virus on his family back home, “You can only get out of the house if you have to, for example going to the grocery store. Not having any contact with anybody, my mom and her brothers not being able to see my grandparents because of the age, they could be the most affected and maybe not be able to handle the virus. So it’s a weird and tough situation for everybody and my family too.”
“Having that situation in my country, my country even stats-wise being the worst country in the world because of the virus,” added Gallinari, “I’m just trying to make sure my team understands the situation and they behave in the right way in order to prevent ourselves, and not just for us, but other people we get in contact with it.”
“The NBA has done a great job giving us rules and news to follow,” he took out on initial measures taken by the NBA, “We can’t do autographs, we can’t be in contact with fans and shaking hands and high fives and pictures. It’s going to be different right now until the situation gets under control.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images