Even when the New York Knicks try to do something right, it still goes wrong more times than not. Later this month, the organization was scheduled to hold a celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of its NBA championship team from 1970. Unfortunately, the event has now reportedly been canceled due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
According to a report from the New York Post, the players themselves raised concerns about traveling to the event, which spurred the team to make the decision to cancel.
The Knicks are postponing the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1969-70 championship team on March 21 because of the coronavirus, according to sources.
Team officials have started to reach out to the Knicks legends of their first title team to inform them of the cancellation, and have not ruled out rescheduling.
According to sources, some players expressed concern to the organization about flying amid the crisis. According to the CDC, elderly are considered most vulnerable to the virus and flying is also deemed a risk of attracting germs.
There was a slight bit of controversy surrounding the event itself when it was revealed that the team didn’t invite Marv Albert, who was the team’s radio voice at the time, and now serves as an analyst for TNT. “It would’ve been nice to see the guys,” Albert said. “I was not invited.”
With the cancellation, however, all of that will be forgotten. This is a bummer for the Knicks, but given the current situation, it was 100 percent the right move. They can always honor the team at a later date once this issue has subsided.
Over the past week, the rapidly spreading coronavirus has started to impact the American sporting landscape. A major tennis tournament in California was canceled, while the Ivy League announced their postseason tournaments will not go on as planned. In the professional realm, the major sports leagues instituted new media measures that ended access to locker rooms.
The NBA, in particular, has reportedly sent memos to teams instructing them to prepare for the possibility of playing without fans. At this point, it’s unclear what will happen in that regard, but after similar measures were put in place overseas, it seems likely to happen sooner or later in the U.S.
