Since Utah Jazz franchise centerpieces Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19, various reports have emerged regarding the All-Stars' increasingly fractured — and possibly irreparable —relationship.

Gobert and other Jazz players have denied these rumors of a feud, but according to David Aldridge in The Athletic in a recent live Q&A, internal issues with Gobert were preexisting:

There have been rumblings well before either of them contracted coronavirus that the Jazz were growing weary of Gobert. Not that they were actively shopping him or trying to get rid of him, but that he might be more available than you'd think a Defensive Player of the Year and guy who is such an anchor would be. It will not surprise me if Utah moves on after this season.

Gobert was the first active player to publicly contract the virus — prompting the league to halt activities on March 11 — and he received flak for touching microphones in the days before. Mitchell tested positive on March 12.

Gobert, 27, is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and was belatedly selected to his first All-Star team — along with Mitchell — in 2020. In his seven seasons in Utah, he has averaged 2.1 blocks, 15.7 points, and 14.3 rebounds per 36 minutes.

Mitchell, 23, also just made his first All-Star team in his third pro season, and he had been averaging a career-high 24.2 points per game in 2019-20 for the No. 4 seeded Jazz (41-23).

Mitchell will become eligible to sign an extension this upcoming offseason, while Gobert will be a free agent in 2021. Per another report in The Athletic, Mitchell is on a “list of the most untouchable players in the league,” and Utah isn't trying to move actively Gobert. Still, while the Jazz may not be looking to move anybody, it appears these rumblings aren't going to go away anytime soon.