The coronavirus outbreak officially reached a boiling point for the NBA on Wednesday, as Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and the league quickly moved to suspend play for all teams. Those who have seen the popular 1990s film “Space Jam” started getting flashbacks as everything unfolded.
If you’ve seen “Space Jam,” you know that the NBA season was also suspended in the movie after it was believed that players were being infected with some sort of illness. The idea was that NBA players like Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing were having their talent stolen by cartoon aliens, but players around the league were concerned about the spread of “germs.” In one scene, players didn’t want to go into the locker room to dress for a game out of fear of getting sick.
Space Jam predicted this. pic.twitter.com/Vbbfj8U80q
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) March 12, 2020
There was also a scene where the NBA commissioner told reporters he is suspending the season indefinitely “until we can guarantee the health and safety of our players.”
Mark Cuban said this like a movie.
It was literally a scene in Space Jam. pic.twitter.com/vNrUvDqrWO
— John Elizondo (@johndelizondo) March 12, 2020
But wait, it gets even weirder. Gobert tested positive and the NBA season was suspended on March 11, 2020. You know when “Space Jam” was released on VHS? March 11, 1997.
The reaction we saw from Mark Cuban on Wednesday showed just how shocking the coronavirus developments have been. This is an unprecedented situation that is evolving by the day, but it’s one that is not totally foreign to “Space Jam” fans.
