Rudy Gobert Reflects on Touching Media Mics Before COVID-19 Diagnosis in March

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert has reflected on his mic-touching incident from March, saying it was a well-intentioned joke. 

"It came from a good intention," Gobert told ESPN's Lisa Salters. "It was the first day that we found out that the media was not going to be able to interview us, right next to us, and, you know, we obviously didn't know as much as we know now, and I only did that to try to liven the mood a little bit. It was, of course, if I could go back in time, I wouldn't do it."

Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of NBA activities, Gobert jokingly touched mics in light of the league's new policies that, at that time, had reporters back away from players to conduct postgame interviews. Gobert was later the first NBA player diagnosed with the coronavirus and became a lightning rod for criticism.

When teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive for the virus, Gobert's actions created a temporary fissure in their relationship.

"We had conversations as grown men, and we told each other what we had on our minds. And the end of the conversation was that our goal was to win a championship together and, you know, I thought it was really mature from both of us to come out of the conversation like that," Gobert said of repairing his relationship with Mitchell.

Gobert said it took around a month for him to feel fully recovered from COVID-19, which is known to have lingering respiratory and cardiac effects. Some have had issues regaining their taste and smell for months after initially being diagnosed with the virus.

Gobert said his past year has been a "learning lesson" for him and hopes he can move forward "happier and better" than before.