The NBA announced on Wednesday that it is suspending its season until further notice after a player tested positive for the coronavirus.

“The NBA announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19,” an NBA statement reads. The test result was reported shortly prior to the tip-off of tonight’s game between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena. At that time, the affected player was not in the arena.

“The NBA is suspending gameplay following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the player who tested positive was Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. Charania tweeted that Gobert was “feeling good, strong and stable” and felt ready to play before Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

ESPN’s Royce Young reported that Gobert was not in the arena prior to the scheduled tipoff.

Jazz-Thunder game called off right before tip

The announcement arrived shortly after the Jazz-Thunder game was abruptly postponed.

Fans had filled the Chesapeake Energy Arena stands, and players took the court shortly before tipoff prior to leaving the floor to return to their locker rooms.

Thunder and Jazz players were sent back to the locker room 😬



No official word on whether the game has been postponed just yet.pic.twitter.com/00sCmLI2uN — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 12, 2020

After a delay, the public address announcer told fans that the game was postponed and asked them to leave the arena in an orderly manner.

Players quarantined

Young reports that players at Wednesday’s game were all in quarantine in the arena and being tested for the coronavirus.

Prior to tip-off as the game was delayed, Chris Paul ran over to the Utah bench and said “what’s wrong with Rudy?” and they all yelled for him to get away. Now all the players are quarantined in their locker rooms, being tested for the virus. — Royce Young (@royceyoung) March 12, 2020

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowkski reported that the Jazz wanted to keep their players separated from Thunder players prior to the game’s scheduled tip.

Jazz and Thunder officials worked together on Wednesday as they awaited results of Rudy Gobert's coronavirus test, sources tell ESPN. Jazz wanted to make sure no OKC player had physical contact or became exposed to any Utah player before the result of Gobert's test was known. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020

Young later reported that Thunder players had left the arena while Wojnarowkski reported that Jazz players remain quarantined in Oklahoma City and will need to coordinate with Oklahoma and Salt Lake City public health organizations before returning to Utah.

They remained in the arena as they awaited the results of testing, according to Young.

Reporting with @wojespn: Nurses have finished testing Jazz players who were at the arena and will process it overnight. For now, players are staying at the arena and aren't permitted to fly home. They're exploring chartering buses to get team back to Utah. — Royce Young (@royceyoung) March 12, 2020

The Jazz announced after the news broke that a player, presumably Gobert, “tested negative for influenza, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection” on Wednesday morning.

He was then tested for COVID-19 as a “precautionary measure” when his symptoms diminished. The positive test result arrived shortly before tip-off, according to the statement.

Gobert had joked about coronavirus

Gobert made light of the coronavirus scare during a Monday news conference when reporters asked players about the response to the spread of COVID-19. He closed his session with reporters by reaching to touch the microphones and voice recorders on the podium.

This video will be shown, literally, for decades to come pic.twitter.com/BIPFAXQKRM — Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 12, 2020

He showed up on Wednesday’s injury report as questionable with an illness prior to his reported positive test for COVID-19.

NBA had planned to make Thursday decision

NBA owners met in a conference call on Wednesday and came to a consensus to either postpone the season or plan to move forward without fans, according to ESPN. The league was leaning toward moving forward with play in empty arenas, according to the report.