ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Concerns over Hurricane Milton and its effects on Florida forced the cancellation of Friday's preseason game in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA said. The game will not be rescheduled.
Orlando was playing at San Antonio on Wednesday night and was scheduled to return to central Florida on Thursday. Those plans are now in flux because of the storm, which made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida , on Wednesday evening and was moving across the state with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and several inches of rain forecast for some areas. “There's always things bigger than the game of basketball and that's what we have to keep our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.
“Knowing that there's families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it.” In St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appeared to be badly damaged.
Television images Wednesday night showed that the fabric that serves as the domed building's roof had been ripped to shreds. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside the stadium. The Rays' stadium was not being used as a shelter, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that it was being used as “a staging site for workers” who were brought to the area to deal with the storm's aftermath.
The stadium opened in 1990 and initially cost $138 million. It was due to be replaced in time for the 202.
