Donovan Mitchell, Second NBA Player With Coronavirus

After a wild night that witnessed the suspension of the NBA season after the announcement of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s positive test for coronavirus, the sports world woke up to the news that there is a teammate also infected with the highly contagious disease in All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell.

ESPN reported soon after the news of Mitchell’s contraction of the virus broke that Jazz officials were upset at the careless nature of Gobert in the locker room and with teammates after being coached about the dangers of contracting the illness.

Mitchell took to Instagram on Thursday to confirm the diagnosis, thank the first responders who treated him in Oklahoma City and urge people to be more serious about the possibility of contracting the virus.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Thanks to everyone who has been reaching out since hearing the news about my positive test. We are all learning more about the seriousness of this situation and 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. I appreciate the authorities in Oklahoma who were helpful with the testing process and everyone from the @utahjazz who have been so supportive. I am going to keep following the advice of our medical staff and hope that we can all come together and be there for each other and our neighbors who need our help❤️?

A post shared by Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) on Mar 12, 2020 at 10:20am PDT

Mitchell was the only member of the Jazz’s traveling party to test positive for the virus. Local health officials administered 58 tests with only Gobert and Mitchell testing positive for COVID-19

Gobert, called by some as patient zero in the NBA’s coronavirus outbreak wrote an apology on social media, telling his followers on Instagram that he apologizes for his careless actions and that he hopes people learn a lesson from the news of the infections.

After the news broke about his infection and the suspension of the NBA season, a video floated around Twitter showing the center touching all of the phones and voice recorders in jest that local media members used to record his comments at a press conference.

Mitchell and Gobert remained in Oklahoma City, the location of their scheduled game with the Thunder, where they will remain in quarantine for 14 days. The rest of the Jazz team took a chartered plane back to Salt Lake City on Thursday.

Gobert’s positive test result began a search to find all of the people that the center had come into contact with over the last several days. The Jazz had played Cleveland, New York, Boston and Detroit in the days leading up to the Thunder cancellation.

The NBA will reassess in 30 days to see if there is a path to playing games, most likely without spectators for the first time in the league’s history.