Though China is coming close to bringing the new coronavirus under control, this gatecrasher has already brought a lot of painful impact on the country in many ways. For example, China's top basketball league CBA is going through a lot of difficulties because of the virus.

Training is always necessary

The rest of the CBA regular season was supposed to begin on February 1 but the outbreak of the virus made that impossible. After the extended Spring Festival holidays, teams began to reassemble, started training behind closed doors and placed all players under centralized management.

"Though there are no games to play because of the virus, that does not mean we can just slack at training. We will use this time to focus on how to solve some of the problems exposed in previous games. I hope our players can buckle down and work on their fundamentals," said Du Feng, head coach of the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Likewise, the Liaoning Flying Leopards are also training behind doors in Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province. The team are taking all necessary measures to ensure safety. For example, all players and coaches have to stay in their own hotel room unless for training. All three daily meals will be sent to their rooms so they can eat without getting together for unnecessary occasions.

Departures of foreign players hurt

Unlike their Chinese counterparts, most foreign players are on short-term contracts with their teams. The shutdown disrupted their plans. Though some foreign players are willing to stay until the season restarts, many are seeking jobs somewhere else, which is understandable professionally.

The CBA came up with new policies to help teams deal with contracts of players who want to leave. Simply speaking, the two sides can put an end to their employment after negotiations. Teams who let their foreign aids away because of the virus can still register new ones.

Nonetheless, this can only help the teams solve the contract problems. Foreign players, especially good ones are a necessary part of a team's strength. Moreover, the competitions in the CBA this season are extremely intense. Departure of foreign players can kill a team's hope for the playoffs.

"When the season restarts, we will be in desperate need for foreign players. But no one knows if we can find good ones, especially with very limited time. Usually when we want to change foreign aids in the middle of the season, we will invite candidates for try-outs. That's not happening this time," said a general manager of a norther CBA team.

It hurts more when revenues decrease

There are more ways for the teams to suffer – for example, revenues. So far there is no confirmation when the season will restart. Currently there are two likely theories. One is to cut down the rest schedule so all games will be over before mid-June. The other is to add national team game window around mid-June.

If the league goes with cut-down, it will directly decease the incomes of all teams – after all, fewer games, less money. And we are not just talking about ticket sales – sponsorship, game packages and other will also be affected.

If the league chooses to extend the rest of the season, there will still be problems. For example, even if the virus is under control, people will inevitably worry about and avoid attending assembly events like sitting in an arena watching a game with over 10,000 people. Furthermore, many teams don't own but rent the arenas they use. Some of these venues will be used for other purposes in summer. It won't be easy for teams to renegotiate their deals to extend their rental of the arena.

CBA cares and acts

Despite all the above difficulties, the league is willing to contribute to help battle the virus. The CBA already donated three million yuan (about 429,000 U.S. dollars) to Hubei province where the virus hit the hardest. All players and coaches of the Southern Tigers together donated two million yuan (about 286,000 U.S. dollars).

Sun Yue of the Beijing Royal Fighters and his wife bought boxes of medical supplies and had them sent to the front line on February 17, accompanied with hand-written cards to comfort and cheer for medical staff. Yi Jianlian of the Southern Tigers donated 11,250 protective suits which already arrived in Wuhan on February 23.

There are also a lot of others from the CBA making similar efforts to contribute to this fight against the virus.