“I wish I would have took this thing more seriously, and I hope everyone else is gonna do so,” – Rudy Gobert said Sunday.
Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player who tested positive for COVID-19, decided to record a video Sunday afternoon urging people to take the appropriate precautions to limit the coronavirus from spreading during the pandemic.
“It’s all about protecting yourself and the people around you,” Gobert said in the video, which the NBA released on their twitter. “I wish I would have took this thing more seriously, and I hope everyone else is gonna do so, because we can do it together. Take care and stay safe.”
Gobert was the first of three NBA players to test positive for coronavirus, prompting the suspension of the league’s season. The others were Jazz co-star Donovan Mitchell and Detroit Pistons center Christian Wood, who matched up against Gobert in Utah’s March 7th road win.
Gobert issued an apology Friday on Instagram for his “careless” actions that endangered people before he was aware that he was infected with the virus. He jokingly mocked the NBA’s temporary media restrictions by intentionally touching all the microphones and recording devices in front of him after his post-shootaround availability Monday. After that, he ended up testing positive for coronavirus as a result of his negligence. See his public apology (below).