In the aftermath of the NBA’s first positive test for the rapidly spreading coronavirus, players are looking towards Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and his lightheartedness towards the situation as something that could’ve jeopardized the entire league. The NBA season was suspended upon Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 and since, teammate Donovan Mitchell has also been diagnosed as carrying the widespread virus.
Along with a video surfacing of Gobert purposely going out of his way to touch microphones during a recent media session, Jazz players have stated that the French 7-footer was acting irresponsibly in recent days. According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Gobert had been touching teammates and their belongings in the locker room. Wojnarowski says Gobert will have to “repair” his relationship with his teammates moving forward as players have grown frustrated towards the veteran center.
“The Jazz are fortunate that they don’t have to get back together and start playing games again right now. There is a lot of work to do to repair relationships. Not just between Donovan Mitchell [and] Rudy Gobert, but others in the locker room. There’s a lot of frustration with Gobert,” Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter (h/t NBA Central).
A playoff team that had started to heat up as of late, the Utah Jazz may now need to completely re-evaluate their future. Rudy Gobert was an All-Star this season, but it’ll be hard for him to earn back the trust of his teammates after such reckless behavior and putting them all in a dangerous situation.
Gobert uploaded an apologetic post to Instagram Thursday but that doesn’t change just how careless his actions were and this is something his teammates will likely remember for a long time. Players across the league are still getting tested for coronavirus but thus far only Gobert and Mitchell have come back positive.
