Joe Lacob won’t come out and say it, but he really is light years ahead of his fellow NBA owners in understanding the effects of the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19. The Warriors owner has the credentials to prove it — a master’s degree from UCLA in public health with a focus on epidemiology, the study of disease distributions and control in populations.

But not even Lacob’s trained, analytical eye can see where the impact of this virus will take the NBA.

“Honestly, I don’t know yet. The economic impact of all this is monumental,” Lacob said in an interview with The Athletic. “We just lost virtually all of our revenues for the foreseeable future. But we have huge expenses that aren’t going away. I feel for these part-time employees and local restaurants and Uber drivers and all of the service people that make their living in and around events like ours. So many small businesses in the city of San Francisco will be impacted by this series of events.”

The NBA made the startling announcement Wednesday night it was suspending the season, shortly after Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. There’s been no word yet on when or if the games could possibly resume.

Lacob said the bottom line is more accurate medical data is needed, which could alleviate some of the fear and anxiety among people.

“What people don’t know is the rate of infection and the death rate,” he told The Athletic, noting it’s possible more widespread testing could eventually show the death rate from COVID-19 in the United States approximates that of a regular flu season.

Lacob pointed to the testing procedures in South Korea as a prime example of what works. About 20,000 people are tested each day there for coronavirus, and a network of 96 labs staffed 24 hours a day quickly deliver results. That country’s “trace, test and treat” program is being credited with South Korea’s fatality rate of just 0.7 percent.

The World Health Organization reports the global death rate average at 3.4 percent, though scientists believe it’s actually lower since not all cases are reported and many more may be asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, Lacob feels the lack of proper data hasn’t helped guide public officials’ decisions on the measures they take to deal with the crisis.

“When these city health departments and politicians make sweeping mandates, whether appropriate or not, they create a lot of inadvertent hardship. Unintended consequences,” Lacob said. “I realize that they are trying to protect the populace. But there are consequences.”

Warriors president Rick Welts also tried to put the NBA shutdown into perspective when meeting with reporters on Wednesday.

“For me, this is the hardest part because we do have a number of those who live paycheck to paycheck who this is going to impact a lot more than it’s going to impact our players, me, (general manager Bob Myers) or anybody in this room,” said Welts. “I don’t want that to get lost in the conversation about what something like this means in terms of its impact to our city because it goes way beyond the core business of playing NBA basketball games for sure.”