THE NBA has suspended its season “until further notice” after a Utah Jazz player tested positive on Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league’s owners were leaning towards playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was centre Rudy Gobert. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9.30pm EDT. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”