On this day five years ago, Oklahoma City set off a chain reaction that led to the United States essentially shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 11, 2020, the NBA postponed the Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game because Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. He was the first known NBA player to test positive for the virus.
Later that night, the league suspended its season. In the following days, sports leagues throughout the country followed suit. They either suspended or canceled their seasons.
The Thunder entered that date just one game behind the Jazz for a top-four seed in the Western Conference standings. It was billed as a critical game for OKC’s chances of earning homecourt advantage in the playoffs with roughly a month left in the regular season.
The NBA resumed its season five months later on July 30 in a bubble environment at Disney World in Florida. The Thunder were one of the 22 teams invited to the bubble. Teams weren’t allowed to leave until their season concluded.
The NBA scheduled eight regular-season games for all 22 teams. It also introduced the play-in tournament concept during the bubble.
The Thunder’s 2019-20 season ended in a Game 7 loss in their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort are the only Thunder players still in OKC from that fun roster.
Following their exit, the Thunder blew up their roster and shifted to development mode. Chris Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Steven Adams was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. Dennis Schroder was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and Danilo Gallinari signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks. The Thunder also changed head coaches, going from Billy Donovan to Mark Daigneault.
