SALT LAKE CITY — As the NBA gets set to return to real action Thursday after more than four months, Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert is once again at the center of attention, as his positive COVID-19 test on March 11 prompted the shutdown of the league.
In a story from inside the NBA’s bubble written by The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver that was published Wednesday, Gobert reiterated many of the things he told local media earlier this month when he spoke to them for the first time since March.
“The media portrayed it like I caused the NBA to shut down,” Gobert told Golliver. “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.”
Like he did via social media on March 12, Gobert told Golliver he was sorry for his careless attitude before his positive test, which included touching a bunch of reporters’ microphones in Salt Lake City on March 9, an act that ended up on video.
“It was hard for me to see so many people question my character based on one video,” Gobert said, echoing the sentiments he shared earlier this month. “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.”
Gobert did share exclusively with Golliver that being away from his mother, who lives in France, since the spring has been difficult.
“I still haven’t seen my mom since everything happened,” Gobert said. “It’s something I don’t really like to talk about, but she’s supported me a lot since I was very young. Just knowing how worried she was and knowing she wasn’t able to be with me, it was pretty tough mentally.”
Gobert told Golliver that he was not initially in the right frame of mind to play once talks of the NBA restarting began, but said, “I felt better about it with time [and dialogue] with the NBA and the [National Basketball Players Association].”
That added to comments to local reporters from earlier this month in which he said, “The good thing is that I’ve had a lot of time to get my mind right, my body right and kind of process everything that happened. When we’re all so focused on our personal lives, we take a lot of stuff for granted. ... You realize that there are some things that really matter. That’s who you are as a human being, the people around you, and all the stuff you can do to impact other people positively, and impact a younger generation positively. I realized what was really important in life. I think I really needed that.”
Of course, Gobert’s relationship with Donovan Mitchell was raised by Golliver, with Gobert reiterating that how the duo works together on the floor is fine, which has been evident during the Jazz’s scrimmages over the last week.
“People were seeing this as something that could destroy the group,” Gobert told Golliver. “I see it as something that could make the group even stronger. If you’re able to come back from that, we won’t be worried about a team beating us or a bad defensive quarter. It gives perspective.”