CEBU, Philippines — Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert has thumbed down reports insinuating his strained relationship with fellow All-Star teammate Donovan Mitchell.
In an earlier report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the rapport between the two Jazz stars had gone sour after their experience with COVID-19 and that Mitchell remains reluctant to fix things between him and Gobert since the incident.
But according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN yesterday, Gobert said the issue has been blown out of proportion.
Insisting that there’s no fight between them, Gobert claimed he recently spoke with Mitchell for the first time and they’re cool with each other.
“It’s true that we didn’t speak for a while after this, but we spoke a few days ago,” Gobert said in video post to Instagram Live. “We’re both ready to go out there and try to win a championship for this team.”
Gobert stressed that it is but natural for people to go through misunderstandings but he assured that he and Mitchell are on the same page with a common goal of winning.
“It’s not about being unprofessional,” said Gobert. “You know, everyone has got different relationships -- it’s never perfect. People that are married, it’s never perfect. So you know, me and my teammates, it’s far from perfect. But at the end of the day, we both want the same thing -- and it’s winning. We’re both grown men, and we both are going to do what it takes to win.”
Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive for the virus, prompting the league’s indefinite suspension.
Mitchell was the only other Jazz player infected with the virus, most probably because of his close contact with Gobert.
Both Mitchell and Gobert have been cleared of the coronavirus two weeks after their positive result. — with reports from ESPN and Philstar.com