Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert has the dubious honor of being the NBA’s “patient zero” in the global coronavirus pandemic.
His positive test for the virus on Wednesday prompted the league to suspend activities while they determine the best course of action to secure player and fan health, reports USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.
The suspension, to last at least 30 days according the Toronto Star’s Bruce Arthur, was necessary given the need to ensure players who came into contact with Gobert and the Jazz in recent days do not show symptoms as much as it is to prevent spread to fans coming to see games.
While a joke that saw the Frenchman touch several microphones and recorders despite protocol separating players from the media has cast the “Stifle Tower” (as Gobert is sometimes called) in a negative light, there is no way to know how he actually came down with the dangerous pathogen.
It’s also elevated the first-time All-Star to new heights in our collective consciousness for undesirable reasons. In light of that, The Celtics Wire put together some less negative things to know about the 7-foot-1 center.
First of all, basketball runs in Gobert’s family. His father, Rudy Bourgarel, is from the French overseas region of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and played for the French national team as his son would many years later.
Secondly, Gobert broke records for both wingspan (7 feet, 8.5 inches) and standing reach (9 feet, 7 inches) at the 2013 NBA Draft Combine, though both those records would fall the following year to center Walter Tavares.
Thirdly, after several close calls, Gobert finally made the 2020 NBA All-Star team as a West reserve, his first such honor. Gobert’s being left off in the prior two seasons has been widely criticized as among the more egregious recent All-Star snubs given the big man’s consistent All-NBA defense.
And finally, Gobert shares a friendship with Celtics center Vincent Poirier forged in their time playing together as part of the French national team, even competing against Poirier’s teammates on Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
While it might not have been the most confidence-inspiring or responsible prank in retrospect, we shouldn’t let Gobert’s ill-advised jest color our perception of the player.
The pandemic that’s currently put the league on hold for a month or longer was almost certain to end up being caught by a player given enough time, and the Jazz big man just happened to have ironically bad luck.
With a little luck of the good variety, the season will be able to resume at some point — hopefully with healthier, well-rested players ready to play with the time off to recuperate from the many bumps and bruises of an 82-game season.
