With the world still on virtual lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, professional sports have been in a holding pattern, with all current seasons suspended until further notice as social distancing protocols remain in place in an effort to flatten the curve and stem the spread of COVID-19.

Transactions around most leagues have been put on hiatus as well, but on Friday night, the WNBA went ahead with their Draft, conducted virtually with most draftees celebrating their big via live feeds in their homes with their families. But before things got kicked off, the league made a remarkable gesture to honor the victims of a devastating tragedy earlier this year.

With the first three honorary picks, the WNBA drafted Gianna Bryant, Peyton Chester, And Alyssa Altobelli, who along with Kobe Bryant were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles earlier this year.

Gigi’s mom, Vanessa Bryant, posted an emotional video thanking the WNBA for giving her daughter such a beautiful memorial and talking about Gigi’s dream of one day making it to the league. Kobe and Vanessa’s daughter was quite the basketball player, and she had aspirations of one day suiting up for UConn.

All three girls were 13 years old at the time and would’ve been part of the 2024 class.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put all the major sports leagues on indefinite hiatus in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly virus, and with it, has also put a freeze on most league business and transactions. However, the WNBA went ahead with their 2020 Draft on Friday night, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing the picks virtually, along with live feeds from the draftees’ homes.

To start the night, Engelbert selected Gianna Bryant, Peyton Chester, and Alyssa Altobelli as honorary draft picks as way to memorialize to the three young basketball players who, along with Kobe Bryant, were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in February near L.A.

Once the official draft got underway, the New York Liberty selected Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick. The Oregon standout had been the presumptive pick after finishing up her senior season with the Ducks. Soon after, it was officially announced that Ionescu had signed a sneaker deal with Oregon-based shoe giant Nike.

OFFICIAL: @WNBA #1 Draft pick Sabrina Ionescu has signed a multi-year shoe deal with Nike. pic.twitter.com/Fq13bwIIqi

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) April 17, 2020

Ionescu had 26 triple-doubles during her time with the Ducks, and was the only player in NCAA history (men and women) to finish with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists.

Welcome to Brooklyn @sabrina_i20!! https://t.co/MbMRJp6fPV

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 17, 2020

Afterward, Ionescu got a hearty welcome message from Kevin Durant via Twitter, as each of them will ostensibly play their respective home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next season.

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“Can you feeeeeeeellll the love toniiiiiiiight?”

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Your taste buds can thank me later.

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We don’t talk about eighth grade for a reason.

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The WNBA’s next superstars will be chosen on Friday night during the 2020 WNBA Draft, a three-round, 36-pick event which begins at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN. Instead of the usual in-person affair, this year’s draft will be held remotely, with league commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing the picks from her home in New Jersey and the draftees included via video conference. Engelbert also plans to honor the late Gigi Bryant, Payton Chester, and Alyssa Altobelli during the broadcast.

Although the draft might look a little bit different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the players will still be able to sport their new team’s hat. Earlier this week, each of the top prospects received a box with league swag, including snapback hats for each team.

This WNBA offseason has been the most memorable in years, with a brand new collective bargaining agreement and an unprecedented amount of star players making the move to different teams. Earlier this week, former MVP and seven-time All-Star Tina Charles was traded to the reigning champion Washington Mystics after spending six seasons with the New York Liberty. Now, the league is ready to welcome its next crop of players.

For the first time in team history, the Liberty hold the first overall pick. If almost everyone on the planet is to be believed, they will select Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu, one of the most decorated individuals in college basketball history. Liberty fans’ excitement to welcome her to the Barclays Center could not be higher. Along with Ionescu, Oregon forwards Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard are also expected to go in the first round.

Several talented juniors will also be featured in this year’s draft, including Oregon’s Sabally, Connecticut guard Megan Walker, and Chennedy Carter of Texas A&M.

While Ionescu is the overwhelming favorite to go No. 1, the rest of the picks could go any which way. Many mock drafts, including ours, expect Sabally to go second to the Dallas Wings and Baylor’s Lauren Cox to follow for the Indiana Fever. Walker and Carter stand out along with Ty Harris and Te’a Cooper as talented guards who can shoot and create for their teammates. And in the frontcourt, Hebard, Beatrice Mompremier, and Mkiah Herbert Harrigan are expected to lead the way.

The draft order has gone through some changes as teams have made splashes in free agency. In the aforementioned Charles trade, New York received the 12th pick from Washington in addition to the ninth and 15th picks from Dallas. Now, New York and Dallas each have three first round picks and the Mystics, L.A. Sparks, Las Vegas Aces, and Connecticut Sun have none. New York does have a rather large number of guards on its roster so their moves on draft night will be particularly interesting.

Earlier in the offseason, the Phoenix Mercury landed star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, making way for a new big three of Diana Taurasi, Diggins-Smith, and Brittney Griner. Minnesota Lynx mainstay Seimone Augustus reportedly took a pay cut to join the Sparks — Kristi Toliver also headed to sunny L.A. after winning a title with the Mystics. Angel McCoughtry left the Atlanta Dream after 11 years to join the Aces while Connecticut guard Courtney Williams joined the Dream. Following a frenzied free agency, the Mercury and Sparks launched themselves into the title conversation with the Mystics and Storm.

On the flip side, the Wings, Lynx and Fever are continuing to rebuild following the departure and/or retirement of some key players. In the draft, each of these teams will be hoping to find the next young stars that can help lead their squads for years to come.

Here’s the full draft order:

1. New York Liberty
2. Dallas Wings
3. Indiana Fever
4. Atlanta Dream
5. Dallas Wings
6. Minnesota Lynx
7. Dallas Wings
8. Chicago Sky
9. New York Liberty
10. Phoenix Mercury
11. Seattle Storm
12. New York Liberty

13. New York Liberty
14. Indiana Fever
15. New York Liberty
16. Minnesota Lynx
17. Atlanta Dream
18. Phoenix Mercury
19. Seattle Storm
20. Los Angeles Sparks
21. Dallas Wings
22. Los Angeles Sparks
23. Connecticut Sun
24. Washington Mystics

25. Atlanta Dream
26. New York Liberty
27. Atlanta Dream
28. Indiana Fever
29. Phoenix Mercury
30. Chicago Sky
31. Seattle Storm
32. Chicago Sky
33. Las Vegas Aces
34. Los Angeles Sparks
35. Connecticut Sun
36. Washington Mystics

NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the media on Friday and admitted that, while there’s no “clear path” to basketball’s return, the league is far from being forced to cancel the season and is exploring options to resume play when it’s safe to do so. While Silver didn’t lay out exactly what must be done to see a return of NBA basketball, the press conference did clarify some things, including that the league has had more exposure to COVID-19 than previously reported.

First and foremost, Silver said that there isn’t a set of solid things the league must do to return, noting that safety of everyone involved is the most important thing right now. Still, there are too many “unknowns” in what would need to happen with regards to testing and overall immunity to determine what qualifications a sports league would have to resume play in the United States.

Silver also said that the much-hyped quarantine league idea — hosting the entire league or its playoff teams in one city to complete play in isolation — is an intriguing idea, but not one they league has looked into extensively.

That being said, there isn’t a firm kill date for the current season, and the league is looking into all possibilities to complete the campaign, including changing the start date of the 2020-21 schedule.

While it’s possible the regular season could be finished and the next one started without serious disruptions, the timeline will be tight for a variety of reasons, including the now-2021 Tokyo Olympics next summer. Among other things, Silver said that individual team revenues were discussed and confirmed a report that player salaries were cut 25 percent to deal with a lack of games during the pandemic.

Tonight on the WWE Friday Night Smackdown open discussion thread:

WrestleMania 36 saw the SmackDown Tag Team Championship defended in a Triple Threat Ladder Match between John Morrison, Jimmy Uso and Kofi Kingston. The roles will reversed next week when The Miz represents himself and Morrison and defends the SmackDown Tag Team Titles in a Triple Threat Match against Jey Uso representing The Usos and Big E representing The New Day.

Will the self-proclaimed “greatest tag team of the 21st century” yet again prevail under unique circumstances, or will either Jey Uso or Big E bring home championship gold for their respective team? Find out this Friday night at 8/7 C on FOX! (via WWE.com)

On tonight’s live (but not for long) show: The Smackdown Tag Team Championship singles triple threat from WrestleMania with the team members who didn’t originally compete, Sasha Banks versus Tamina with Tamina’s chance at Bayley on the line, a couple of Money in the Bank qualifying matches, and Mandy Roses and Sonya Deville “clearing the air.”

As always, give a thumbs up to any comments from tonight’s open thread you enjoy and we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox report. Make sure to flip your comments to “newest” in the drop down menu under “discussion,” and enjoy the show!

WWE is ending an eventful week by revealing that after a brief return to live shows, it plans to pre-tape all of its TV shows from the end of April through the beginning of July. The company also claims that it will be doing this in the safest possible way for its workers.

The timeline of WWE’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a packed on. When restrictions on gatherings were put in place around the U.S. and most sports and entertainment went on hiatus, WWE continued to film episodes of television, just pre-taping them at the Performance Center with no fans in attendance instead of broadcasting them live from arenas. Even after some talent had to pull out because of health and travel issues and there was a positive coronavirus test within the company, WWE decided to start airing live shows again.

It seemed like those might get shut down as Florida took more anti-coronavirus measures, but after a suspiciously timed Super PAC donation, WWE, along with other sports and media, was deemed an essential business by the state. In the following days, WWE started collaborating with the Ad Council on coronavirus safety PSAs, released a Community Impact Report about all the great things they say the company does, and Vince McMahon was added to President Donald Trump’s task force to reopen the economy. The wrestling promotion also announced mass layoffs that included wrestlers, producers, coaches, and writers.

As more media outlets (including The Independent and The Nation) have taken notice of WWE’s financial and political dealings, Pro Wrestling Sheet‘s Ryan Satin, who appears on FS1’s WWE Backstage, received an “exclusive” report that WWE is returning to pre-taped shows. Satin reports that, “in an effort to have performers traveling as little as possible,” WWE will, on April 25, start taping one to two episodes of their programs at a time. The whole taping schedule is in the article, with July 1 the last filming date (for the July 8 edition of NXT.) Tonight’s episode of Smackdown and all of next week’s WWE TV will be live.

The piece also includes details about new health and safety measures WWE is taking, which it says have, “continued to evolve as we learn more about coronavirus as a society.” The protocols described are all things that other companies were doing already, some of which WWE was already doing: “wearing face masks, good hygiene/handwashing for the appropriate amount of time, medical screenings prior to entering any closed set, matches done in waves, only essential personnel on-site, adhering to social distancing outside of performances, ‘pandemic-level cleaning’ and more.”

Anonymous WWE sources have more positive things to say about the company in the article, including that, “despite some outside criticism, WWE is putting a lot of effort into mitigating risks and doing the best they can to protect people’s health and safety while still keeping the business afloat amidst the current pandemic.” (In a statement to investors the day of the layoffs, WWE stated that it has “substantial financial resources, both available cash and debt capacity, which currently total approximately $0.5 billion, to manage the challenges ahead.” An in-depth outside analysis of the company’s finances by Wrestlenomices can be found here.)

A WWE rep also gave Pro Wrestling Sheet a statement making the case for why the company should continue to produce new shows, not just financially, but for the good of society. “We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times,” the source said. According to this person, because WWE is, “a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance.”