Rudy Gobert appears to be public enemy number one among NBA fans and, if rumors are to be believed, his own Utah Jazz teammates too, after his irresponsible antics of late with the novel coronavirus. The Stifle Tower's fellow All-Star, Donovan Mitchell, even appeared to not mince words with his Instagram post that he's alluding to their big man after sharing his thoughts once he was revealed to be afflicted as well.
Gobert's nonchalance is blamed for contaminating himself as well as introducing and accelerating the spread of the virus, leading to the NBA suspending play indefinitely. But according to one sports executive, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year should actually be thanked for his unintentional efforts because it brought to light that the pandemic should not be trifled with. Per Bruce Arthur of The Star:
And then Rudy Gobert, who treated the coronavirus as a joke, tested positive, and sports stopped. It resulted in the most significant public acknowledgment in North America that this was an emergency, that the coronavirus outbreak was real.
“Honestly,” said one sports executive, sounding drained. “Rudy Gobert saved America. He really did.”
Immediately after Gobert was confirmed to be positive, the Jazz matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder was swiftly postponed. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver shortly took action and announced that games would be halted for at least 30 days with the hopes that the hotter weather would cause the virus to ‘peter down'.
Be that as it may, the Jazz big man has been profusely apologetic for his actions and even some NBA players (mostly fellow Frenchman Evan Fournier of the Orlando Magic) and analyst Charles Barkley have defended him.
Follow Us
Subscribe