The Federal Aviation Administration issued a “general national shutdown for all U.S. airports” Friday afternoon due to an unspecified communications issue. A problem that, according to The Athletic’s Grace Raynor, will take some time to resolve, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin (subscriber link).
Five NBA teams scheduled to fly out on Friday for their games on Saturday: Networks and Pistons both were scheduled for afternoon flights, while Cavaliers, Bykovand Grizzlies they were all scheduled to fly out after Friday night’s games, writes Joe Vardon in the same article.
The Nix were also planning to fly out Friday night after the Pacers game, and their plans remain up in the air, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Link to Twitter).
The Pistons were lucky to leave before the glitch became known and landed safely in Miami ahead of Saturday’s game against the Heat, but the Nets, who remained in New Orleans after beating the Pelicans on Wednesday, were suspended minutes before they were to fly to Memphis, who they are scheduled to play on Saturday.
The Nuggets have already reached their next destination, according to Bennett Durand of the Denver Post (Link to Twitter), as well as Maverickstrans Dallas Morning News Mike Curtis. Others such as Nix and spurs, waiting to see what will happen to their travel plans, Tom Orsborn writes for the San Antonio Express-News.
Teams are not the only parties affected by this disruption, as availability of referees can be an issue as referees are commercially flown to games and this could be affected even after the stoppage is lifted.
A league official declined to comment on the possibility of canceling Saturday’s game until the NBA has more information.