Rudy Gobert publicly apologized to people he “may have endangered” after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The All-Star center, who mockingly touched local reporters’ digital recorders prior to his diagnosis, says he was “careless.”
Gobert’s Utah Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive for COVID-19.
The NBA has suspended the season in response to the global pandemic.
Per The AP:
It started as a joke: Before leaving a media session at shootaround in Salt Lake City on Monday in advance of a game against Detroit that night, Gobert touched all the tape recorders that were placed before him on a table, devices that reporters who cover the Jazz were using.
“You know, there’s not much we can do right now,” Gobert said in that session when asked about how teams are dealing with the virus. And a minute or so later, before he ran out a side door, he touched all the recorders.
It is not known if Gobert is responsible for Mitchell contracting the virus, or vice versa.
The NBA shutdown could cost teams well into the hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how long the shutdown lasts. Those teams that have faced Gobert in recent days will likely face some testing. And at least two Jazz beat writers who were tested revealed Thursday that the results came back negative.
