The NBA world -- indeed, the entire professional sports world -- has come to a screeching halt amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But Danny Ainge is doing his best to maintain some normalcy.
The Boston Celtics president of basketball operations told the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett he's still been going into the team's facility to conduct business as best he can with both NBA and college games on hold.
"I’ve been the only one that’s at the facility, and mostly just watching film and walking inclines on the treadmill and walking the back stairway and doing some exercise," Ainge told Bulpett via phone Thursday.
Celtics staffers and players are currently self-quarantined after Marcus Smart tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. But Ainge insisted he hasn't had any in-person contact with anyone on the team since before the shutdown began in early March.
Instead, he checks in virtually on a daily basis.
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"I’m in communication with people in the organization, including players, every day," Ainge said. " I think they’re doing really well. I mean, guys have their workouts. They’ve requested stationary bikes and weight and weight vests and bands so they can do all sorts of their workouts that our trainers are giving them. So, yeah, I think everybody’s following all of the rules, staying quarantined, and just keeping to themselves.
"It feels like, in my conversations with everybody, that they’re all doing well. They all seem pretty upbeat. I’m just trying to keep them motivated."
Ainge added he feels for the "millions of people" who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, including arena workers and others whose jobs rely on NBA games.
But the 61-year-old doesn't seem concerned about his own health despite suffering a mild heart attack last spring.
"I feel fine," Ainge said. " ... I know that it feels really scary, and I know that it is scary for some, but I don’t feel really scared.
"I feel more concerned, I guess, with all of the people whose livelihoods are being taken away from them, and I think that that is scary."
The NBA expects to be shut down for a "significant period," according ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, so it appears this state of affairs will be the new normal.