Avoiding the NBA’s Patient Zero.

That, more than anything, is the league’s top priority in this unenviable coronavirus challenge that is getting tougher by the day. And that, from this vantage point, is why the Wednesday revelation that Golden State will become the first team to play games with no fans on hand is the right way to go.

The City of San Francisco banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people, and Warriors president Rick Welts would later go on to say that this move will cost them “tens of millions” of dollars.

So be it. The rest of the league needs to follow suit.

The NCAA sent the strongest message yet on Wednesday afternoon, announcing that its basketball tournament for both men and women would be held without most fans in attendance (in addition to other championship events).

All it takes is just one player, one coach, one staff member to get infected and their entire eight-billion-per-year-in-revenue operation could be in jeopardy for the foreseeable future. Here’s why: Once someone gets the virus, that person would have to be quarantined for two weeks. What’s more, every person within the organization (and elsewhere) who had come into contact with their Patient Zero would likely need to be quarantined as well.

It’s not hard to see how brutal the butterfly effect would be from there. And with owners slated to have a league-wide conference call on Wednesday afternoon, with calls also lined up for team presidents and general managers on Thursday, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this entire season is in jeopardy.

Of course it is.

At last tally, COVID-19 has infected more than 1,000 Americans (31 deaths) and more than 115,000 people worldwide (more than 4,200 deaths). The problem is compounded stateside because we’ve had a serious lag in testing, meaning there’s a mystery to the American numbers that is quite unsettling. They’re only going to get worse from here.

Meanwhile, given the incredibly contagious nature of COVID-19, an NBA game is just the kind of close-quarters environment that we all should be wary about right now. Consider this much: The NBA deemed it necessary to change media rules to protect its players, with interviews now to be conducted with six-to-eight feet of space between the subject and the reporter. Yet it’s comfortable with 17,000-plus fans sitting inches apart – literally rubbing elbows as they share the armrest – all in the name of sustaining the bottom line? All the hand sanitizer in the world can’t do anything about that fan behind you who doesn’t know (yet) they have the coronavirus, and who coughs on all of the unsuspecting fans below.

The front row scene alone is a nightmare to behold. Imagine: the ball barreling out of bounds late during the fourth quarter of a close game with a key possession on the line, only for a player to have to think twice and three times before giving maximum effort because, well, now is not a good time to dive into the laps of strangers.

The Washington Wizards clearly don’t see it that way – at least for now – as their ownership group announced on Wednesday that they would not follow the DC Department of Health’s recommendation that non-essential mass gatherings be postponed or canceled. The Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, said on Wednesday that he would issue a public order limiting mass gatherings and banning spectators from major sporting events – aka Cavs games are in peril, with good reason.

“We are doing the things we are doing because we have the potential to become like Italy. We are taking the actions we are taking now to try to avoid that. The situation will get bad before it gets better, but it is in our hands to determine what the outcome will be,” DeWine tweeted.

But why hasn’t there been a uniformed response to this situation from the NBA just yet? Because you’re dealing with 30 teams, which means 30 owners, different priorities therein, all while trying to follow the lead of public health officials (county and the CDC) who have their own distinct view of the matter. Add in the reality that none of them have ever been through anything like this before, and it’s understandable that it’s messy at the moment.

But the clock is ticking. Loudly.

The league is clearly weighing all kinds of options here – some more logical than others.

This reported idea of relocating games to places that haven’t been impacted by the virus is just absurd, in large part because of the optics. Nothing says being tone-deaf like taking your employees from a place that is impacted to a place that’s safe because, well, there is work to be done.

But sources say the league is still considering more sensible options as well, among them the prospect of pushing its entire calendar back. The NBA has been asking teams to provide its arena schedule through July, which is as clear a sign as any that the notion of putting everything on hold for a while so the authorities can attempt to contain the virus remains in play. If nothing else, it’s a good sign that the focus is moving away from half-measures to full ones – dollars be damned.

The NBA should be thankful that it has an option that would ensure that a prized revenue stream remains open. Keep playing games without fans present, but with millions watching on television and the ESPN/TNT contract remaining intact. Those of us who write for a living will still come out and tell our basketball tales, conducting interviews from a safe distance away and providing a distraction amid all the fear that comes with this pandemic.

The games can go on, in other words. So long as the NBA’s Patient Zero doesn’t exist.

(Photo: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)