Jazz teammates Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell seem to be healthy after both testing positive for coronavirus a month ago, which is the overriding good news in anything regarding their relationship.
Gobert's positive test just before a game on March 11, prompting the NBA to shut down and starting a chain reaction of major U.S. leagues suspending their seasons. He had been somewhere between careless and reckless before that, touching teammates and their personal items in the locker room. Not long after that, Mitchell also tested positive.
Gobert apologized, but it was clear that the relationship between the teammates was strained. In a March 16 appearance on Good Morning America, Mitchell said: "To be honest with you, it took a while for me to kind of cool off, and I read what he said and heard what he said. I'm glad he's doing OK. I'm glad I'm well."
That statement was pretty chilly, and understandably so. Then a few days ago, an Athletic report suggested — per an unnamed source — that the relationship between the two star teammates "doesn't appear salvageable."
That leads us to Sunday, when Gobert went on the record to try to change that narrative. He said on an Instagram video that he and Mitchell spoke for the first time recently and said he and Mitchell aren't fighting.
"People that are married, it's never perfect. So you know, me and my teammates, it's far from perfect," he said, per an ESPN.com transcript. "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."
Here's the thing: That still doesn't sound great. But more to the point, it doesn't really matter what Gobert says right now. As the victim, Mitchell is the one who gets to say when this is resolved (or not), to whatever extent it is resolved (or not).
Mitchell been pretty quiet, posting occasionally on Instagram (including this short video on flattening the curve in Utah). It could very well be that he more or less echoes what Gobert said and the two will move forward with at least a business relationship.
