Lebron James
(Photo : Reuters)

The COVID-19 outbreak is now becoming one of the most pressing health issues in the world. It has infected more than 300 people in the United States and more than 10,000 people worldwide. The number of cases is still rising as the days go by.

Latin Post reported previously that the NBA told its players to avoid high-fives and taking items from fans for autographs to control the spread of the infectious virus. Some players responded positively while others seem not to mind the memorandum.

Read related article: NBA Advises Players to Avoid High-Fives and Autographs 

The NBA released a memorandum on Friday before the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks went to a match at the Staples Center. The memorandum stipulated that players and teams should prepare themselves for the possibility of playing games without fans in case of COVID-19 outbreak is declared an emergency in the United States.

This memorandum was released following the actions taken by the sports league in Europe in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. The region has been devastated by the COVID-19.

It was also detailed in the recent memorandum released by the NBA the potential actions that they need to take including playing the game with only essential staff present.

However, for Los Angeles Lakers star Lebron James, he will not be playing if the NBA decides to have games without fans present in the stadium.

In an interview, James said: "We play games without the fans? Nah, that's impossible. I ain't playing if I ain't got the fans in the crowd. That's who I play for. I play for my teammates, and I play for the fans. That's what it's all about. So if I show up to an arena and there ain't no fans in there, I ain't playing. They can do what they want to do."

Moreover, there is a big possibility that NBA will be having games without fans present because they already told the teams to identify essential staff who will attend their scheduled game and begin informing its ticket holders about the changes.

According to the obtained memorandum of Associated Press, NBA teams should be prepared for the possibility of "implementing temperature checks on team players, staff, referees, and other essential persons during their scheduled game. 

This is not the first time that a sports entertainment giant set its precautionary measures to control the spread of the COVID-19. In fact, the city of Austin in Texas has canceled its SXSW March events and this is the first time for 34 years that the festival will not take place.

Other sports leagues around the world also did the same by canceling its game or by having the games without the presence of fans.

The precautionary measures set by the NBA is also expected to become precedence for other American sports league.

This could pose a potential problem if other athletes choose to take the same route as Lebron.