Jazz center Rudy Gobert was thankfully cleared of coronavirus.
But not before being mistreated, according to his friend and French national team teammate, Magic guard Evan Fournier.
Fournier, via L’Equipe, as translated by Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando:
I empathize with Fournier’s concern about privacy. But the defense of NBA players getting tested amid a nationwide shortage of coronavirus tests included: Players frequently interact closely with the public. Meeting an NBA player is highly memorable for most people and often forgettable for the player. Revealing the names of those who test positive was the only proper way to warn people who came into close contact with those players. It’s not as if players know how to discreetly tell each fan whom they met during the previous two weeks.
Hopefully, Gobert’s positive test became public on his own terms. He still had a right to medical privacy. But his name emerging did serve the greater good – not just in terms of taking coronavirus more seriously generally, but specifically alerting people who came near him to take precautions.
That’s why I don’t understand half measures like announcing that a member of an organization has coronavirus without naming the person. What does that accomplish?
As far as Fournier’s disgusting-behavior charge… Gobert was the face of coronavirus in the NBA even before testing positive. He earned that title through his reckless actions. To his credit, Gobert apologized then backed that with a signification donation.
It is unfair Gobert received heightened criticism because he got coronavirus. If he never tested positive, he likely would have received far less scrutiny. His actions were reckless, regardless, though. It’s OK to point that out.
