As the NBA gears up for its return to the hardwoods — the Utah Jazz are scheduled to play their first game against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans on July 30 — Jazz center Rudy Gobert, whose positive COVID-19 test was the first domino that led the NBA to suspend its season on March 11, still has a lingering side effect.
More than three months after his original positive test, Gobert says he still has trouble smelling. Loss of smell is one of the COVID-19 symptoms.
Gobert told L’Equipe, a French newspaper, that his sense of smell still isn’t back to 100%.
“The taste has returned, but the smell is still not 100%,” Gobert said. “I can smell smells, but not from afar. I spoke to specialists, who told me that it could take up to a year (to return to normal).”
The NBA tips off on July 30 at Disney World in Orlando and the Jazz-Pelicans game is the very first of the restart. The Jazz travel to Orlando on July 7 and team training camps will take place from July 9-21, with team intrasquad scrimmages held during July 22-29 before the regular season resumes, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.