Andy Gibson, mass communications artist in residence, has been social distancing since the abrupt postponement of the OKC Thunder game March 11.
Player for the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert, tested positive for COVID-19 in a preliminary screening only hours before tipoff in their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The diagnosis led to a postponement of the game and, eventually, the NBA season as a whole.
Gibson said he was working as a freelance cameraman for the game.
“I do freelance camera work for networks covering the Thunder games. For this specific gig, it was for Fox Sports. I run a handheld camera. That’s the one that’s on you shoulder and in your right hand,” Gibson said. “I sit at mid-court, on the ground in between two sets of audience members.”
Gibson said the game was roughly 30 seconds from tip off when he noticed Donnie Strack, Thunder vice president of human and player performance, run onto the court.
“I see him run, and I say on headset ‘I think there’s something going on here.’ So, I start shooting the doctor who’s talking to the referees, and then Chris Paul starts talking to them, and they are pushing them away while he keeps getting closer,” Gibson said. “So, then the referees pull in the coaches and start talking to the two head coaches, and then they walk away. Then I see Joey Ingles from the Jazz start waving to the crowd, saying goodbye, and then both teams exit.”
Gibson said by that point, most people had a good idea of what was going on, but the teams didn’t want to announce it on the PA yet, so the crowd wouldn’t panic. Instead, the Thunder continued entertaining the audience while the NBA figured out what to do next.
“It was kind of funny because they brought out their T-shirt canon, trying to entertain the crowd. Then they had the raindrops perform, who are the really young dancers. Then they brought out the halftime entertainment, so the audience got their money’s worth,” Gibson said. “We’re just shooting crowds looking at their phones, the scores tables of people sitting there. We didn’t know what to shoot. We shot some of the singing and dancing because we’re on air still.”
Gibson said when the decision came to postpone the game, they notified the crowd by making an announcement on the large screen in the arena.
“Some people left immediately, and some people hung out for a while and waited. From what I could tell on the court, it didn’t look like anyone was panicking,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the TV crew tore down the tech and left the stadium shortly after. He said he knew he wouldn’t want to be at school for the next couple days due to social distancing recommendations, so he headed to school as soon as he could.
“After the thunder game, I actually ran up to school to grab all my stuff because I knew I wasn’t going to come in the next day. I grabbed my computer, folders, gradebooks, everything and I came home. I didn’t come in Thursday or Friday,” Gibson said.
Beth Adele, director of mass communications, said she found out the game was postponed via social media and the news.
“Knowing there was a delay of game and subsequent postponement, I texted him to ask if he was okay. He said he was and simply was waiting,” Adele said. “The next morning, he chose to self-quarantine. We understood and supported his decision.”
Adele said since the university made the decision to move classes online for the two weeks following spring break, and more recently for the remainder of the semester, officials have been working to prepare faculty and staff.
“Since that time, OCU has been very communicative with faculty to prepare us and continue to support us through this transition,” Adele said.
Gibson said he has attempted to distance himself from other people, but that he did come in contact with his family the night of the game.
“I’ve been staying away from people as best as I can, but my wife saw me that night, and my daughter saw me that night. My wife had to go to Tulsa to help my mom with a surgery, so I didn’t want to go and be around her, but I was around my wife before she left,” Gibson said.
In the days since the game, Gibson said he has not been self-quarantining as much as social distancing, since he was not anywhere near Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz player who Rudy Gobert allegedly infected.
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