Rudy Gobert was his candid self when he spoke on Instagram Live at the weekend. As the first player in the National Basketball Association to officially test positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 and the trigger for the league to suspend the 2019–20 season, he could have had his experience affect him negatively. Instead, he went the other way, putting the spotlight trained on him to good use by continually promoting good health and safety habits. True, it was penance for the flippant manner in which he treated social distancing measures. On the other hand, there can be no discounting how actively he has tried to make up for his unfortunate misstep. And so we went on social media anew to spread the word as witness to the pandemic’s ill effects.
Not all have seen fit to forgive Gobert, though. Most notably, teammate Donovan Mitchell, the other Jazz player who tested positive for the virus but who also likewise recovered from it, appears to remain distant — in stark contrast to their hitherto-close relationship. The turn of events is understandable, to be sure. Even as officials have rightly noted that either could have infected the other, or that neither did, the point cannot be overemphasized: the two-time Defensive Player of the Year needs to repair their ties not because he may have passed a deadly illness along. Rather, it was because he didn’t take it seriously despite repeated warnings.
Indeed, the Jazz were ahead of the curve when it came to information about the coronavirus. Head coach Quin Snyder had family members in Seattle, Washington, close to where an outbreak in nursing homes that led to 112 cases in 11 days occurred, and so kept tabs on its spread and made sure to keep the rest of the team abreast with developments. Yet, as the need to take precautions kept being hammered into the minds of players, there was Gobert acting without care; in one press conference during which social distancing measures were imposed, he even went to the trouble of touching microphones and recorders on the table as he stood up to leave. And he was the same in the locker room, grasping and holding with no regard for space.
Which, in a nutshell, is why Mitchell continues to be aloof at best. Gobert minced no words on IG, admitting that they “didn’t speak for a while.” Nonetheless, he downplayed the supposed rift, arguing that “we’re professionals … We’re both grown men, and we both are going to do what it takes to win.” And, to be sure, he’s on the mark when he says players can get along just fine on the court without needing to off it as well. “You know, everyone has got different relationships; it’s never perfect. People that are married, it’s never perfect. So you know, me and my teammates, it’s far from perfect.”
In the NBA, however, every little competitive advantage counts. Competition is so stiff that talent alone does not make champions. The hoops landscape is littered with examples of skill-laden franchises that fail to claim any hardware because of lack of esprit de corps. And the Jazz, having experienced the tumult that occurred between star Deron Williams and longtime bench tactician Jerry Sloan early in the last decade, know this only too well. Little wonder, then, that they’re already moving to get Gobert and Mitchell’s friendship going again.
Needless to say, the quarantine hasn’t helped. The good news is that the two have finally spoken to each other, and are, at the very least, in agreement on the ultimate goal. “We’re both ready to go out there and try to win a championship for this team,” Gobert disclosed. But will they? The answer depends on how fast and how well they can mend, alone and together.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
