Rudy Gobert made his first public comments since testing positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday night. Gobert _ who infamously rubbed a bank of microphones and recorders on Monday to joke about the social distancing required between players and media _ apologized on Instagram Thursday.
"I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis ... mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment," Gobert wrote.
Gobert's diagnosis sent shockwaves across American sports, leading to the NBA suspending its season Wednesday night. That ultimately led to nearly every other American pro and college sport _ including the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments _ shutting things down by Thursday.
His teammate, Donovan Mitchell, who also tested positive for coronavirus, was critical of Gobert Thursday.
"Hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them," Mitchell wrote in his own Instagram post.
The Jazz are annoyed with Gobert's flippant behavior, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"Jazz players privately say that Rudy Gobert had been careless in the locker room touching other players and their belongings," Wojnarowski tweeted Thursday morning.
Gobert acknowledged that and the microphone incident in his post. "The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered," he wrote.
The people Gobert endangered, though _ Jazz beat writers _ have universally defended him. One writer called Gobert touching the microphones "a measure of support for the media," though he added that it was "obviously reckless."
Another said that "Nobody needs to be hammering Rudy Gobert right now. He's extraordinarily thoughtful and caring and I believe that's where the microphone touching comes from. It was a sign of unity and not disrespect."
After Gobert's positive test the NBA franchise tested every member of the traveling party, players, employees and media. Only Gobert and Mitchell tested positive.
The Utah health department told the writers that Gobert touching the microphones would be considered a "low-risk exposure."
