Donovan Mitchell: 'I Was Mad' At Rudy Gobert After Positive COVID-19 Test in 2020
In March 2020, the world changed because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who was a member of the Utah Jazz at the time, recently opened up about his experience when the pandemic started.
Mitchell revealed to JJ Redick on The Old Man and The Three podcast that he was not happy with former teammate Rudy Gobert after they both tested positive for COVID-19:
"I was angry. Not gonna lie to you. I would say out of all of the media reports that have ever come out about me, Rudy and the team, that was probably the most accurate. I was mad. I thought, I thought at the time, because we didn't know, I thought because Rudy was around doing whatever that that was the reason I got it. Now, we don't know. I could've given it to him without contact. Like, whatever, whatever it was, we don't know now looking back at it."
Mitchell has a unique perspective because Gobert, who is now with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19 and prompted the league to shut down. Mitchell later tested positive himself, which led to multiple players and team reporters being quarantined while the Jazz were in Oklahoma City for a game against the Thunder.
Prior to his positive test, Gobert notably made light of the situation when he touched all of the microphones at a press conference. He apologized for his behavior, saying in an Instagram post, "I was careless and make no excuse."
The night Gobert had tested positive, the Jazz were forced to remain in the Oklahoma City locker room for nine hours, according to Mitchell. There were a lot of unknowns regarding the coronavirus, so Mitchell said the team did its best to not panic. Thankfully, Mitchell said veteran point guard Chris Paul had sent over 15 bottles of wine to the locker room.
Mitchell explained that the immediate response to his positive test made him feel like he was under a microscope. He had made recent appearances at the Adidas headquarters, a high school and a casino, and all of those places were forced to close immediately.
"They shut down a lot of places just because I was around, and that's when I felt like the world was just watching me and Rudy at one point," he said.
Both Mitchell and Gobert were traded from the Jazz this offseason, ending an obviously tense partnership between the two of them.
