Celtics

Celtics

With Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert reportedly testing positive for coronavirus Wednesday night -- which has led the NBA to suspend its season -- it brings to mind that Gobert has come in close contact in games with the Boston Celtics twice in the past two weeks. 

The Jazz played the Celtics at TD Garden last Friday and on Feb. 26 in Salt Lake City. Gobert played more than 30 minutes in each game. Players on Jazz opponents the past 10 days are being told to self-quarantine, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported. 

In addition to the Celtics, the Jazz have played the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors in the past 10 days. By ESPN's estimate, Gobert has shared the floor with 34 players since Friday. 

The Celtics were not expected to comment on the situation Wednesday night, according to the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.

In the Feb. 26 game in Utah, Gobert was photographed shaking hands with Celtics center Vincent Poirier, who, like Gobert, is from France.

 

The Celtics assigned Poirier to their G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, on March 6, eight days after that Feb. 26 game in Utah.

The Jazz released a statement, and without naming Gobert, said that one of their players who did test positive is "under the care of health officials in Oklahoma City" - where Utah's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed Wednesday night. 

Emerson College school president M. Lee Pelton said late Wednesday that Gobert and the Jazz had practiced at the school's gym in Boston prior to the March 6 game against the Celtics. Pelton said the school has reached out to the Boston Public Health Commission for assistance. It's uncertain if he or the team came in contact with students. NBA teams typically work out at Emerson or other local schools on the day of a game at TD Garden.

“We typically give a wide berth to the professionals who practice in our gym,” Pelton told the Berkeley Beacon Wednesday night. 

On Monday, Gobert appeared to be trying to make a point about overreacting to the virus when he leaned over to touch media microphones and recorders left at the podium where he was speaking.