NBA COMMISSIONER ADAM SILVER entered the Barclays Center in Brooklyn before the hometown Nets hosted the Detroit Pistons . It was Chinese Cultural Night. The Nets players wore warm-up shirts honoring the Lunar New Year, and the starting lineups were announced in Chinese.
Traditional Lion Dancers were scattered throughout the arena. On the main concourse, fans could have their names written in custom Chinese calligraphy and enjoy nian gao desserts, also known as Chinese New Year rice cake. Before the game, Silver stepped into the Diamond Lounge, a private room inside the arena, where a small reception recognizing local Chinese Americans, namely business leaders, was being held.
The small space was crowded, with close to 50 attendees. At the bar, Silver spotted a familiar face, Dr. David Ho, a renowned virologist who had consulted with the NBA in the early 1990s when Magic Johnson announced he had tested positive for HIV.
It was Ho's second Nets game at Barclays Center, and he had been personally invited by Nets owner Joe Tsai. Ho -- a professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and the founding director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center -- immediately recognized Silver. They greeted each other with pleasantries, but very quickly, with COVID-19 dominating the headlines, Silver broached a question.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Silver asked. It was Jan. 29, 2020, a few weeks after first hearing about a virus spreading through China f.
