The 2019-20 NBA season came to a sudden halt once the first case of the novel coronavirus was made known. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was the one diagnosed with the virus, soon painting him as the bringer of this malign pandemic into the NBA world.
It didn't help that his teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive only hours later, portraying him as responsible for the postponement of the season.
“The media portrayed it like I caused the NBA to shut down,” Gobert told The Washington Post in an extended interview Friday. “Instead of saying that it’s a pandemic and Rudy Gobert tested positive. For a lot of people who don’t think further than what’s put in their faces, they really thought I brought the coronavirus to the United States.”
Gobert had jokingly touched all of the media microphones earlier, mocking the virus. While some viewed his diagnosis as poetic justice, others were irate that he would dare act like that and seek forgiveness from media involved in his interviews.
“It was hard for me to see so many people question my character based on one video,” said the Jazz big. “That was a big learning experience. I know who I am. People around me know who I am. Everyone is going to have a different perception and opinion of you. If I start putting my energy into that, I’m going to be living a very painful life.”
The big man was forced to backtrack his steps and see how he may have contracted the virus, noting it likely happened on the road trip in New York, Boston or Detroit. He could have been exposed to the virus through Mitchell or even Pistons big man Christian Wood, who tested positive days after.
Gobert was beat down because of how he handled the virus, but he has since learned to live with that fact and moved forward, just as the rest of the NBA is trying to do.
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