Utah Jazz: Will corona virus scare fracture the locker room?

Utah Jazz star players Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert have contracted the corona virus, setting off a hysteria on social media and the suspension of the NBA season.

I thought yesterday was going to be a spectacular showdown between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder, maybe even a playoff preview.

Instead what happened was perhaps the worst case scenario. Just seconds before tip-off, one of the team doctors for the Oklahoma City Thunder ran out to the court and had a word with the officials, who immediately huddled up with Quin Snyder and Billy Donovan.

Then the players of both teams exited to their locker rooms, while broadcasters and PA announcers tried their best to keep everyone calm about the delay of the game. Despite their best efforts, it was inevitable that something drastic would happen.

Earlier that afternoon, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was updating us on the conference call the league had with all 30 owners about what to do with the corona virus. The NCAA had already decided to play it’s famous tournament with no fans in the arenas.

Word on the street was that the NBA was ready to do the same. I didn’t love the news, but I preferred it to the alternative of cancelling the NBA season and playoffs altogether. My first thought was that they were going to send all of the fans home and resume the game.

But then I remembered that Rudy Gobert and Emmanuel Mudiay were both listed as questionable to play last night due to illness, and there could be the potential one or both of them had the corona virus.

The game was postponed about 20 minutes after the scheduled 6:10 PM tip-off, and just minutes later Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news that Rudy Gobert did in fact test positive for the corona virus.

The NBA season would be suspended as a result, as it would simply not be safe to have a 15-man team (not including coaches and other staff) exposed to the virus travelling all over the country playing a contact sport.

Then early this morning, news broke that Donovan Mitchell, the other All-Star of the Utah Jazz, had also tested positive for the corona virus. Woj decided to word his tweet in such a cryptic way as to imply Jazz players are a little annoyed – even angry at Rudy Gobert.

This is a terrible misfortune to a Jazz team that has already had rumors swirling around their lack of team chemistry this season. It was obvious that Rudy Gobert was frustrated about his lack of offensive touches, and it was strange and very un-Jazz-like the day that Mike Conley got pulled from the starting lineup only to be put back in less than an hour later.

Jazz Nation was quick to criticize Woj for the wording of his tweet, accusing him of framing Rudy Gobert as the bad guy. But at the end of the day, Woj is the best in the business of reporting, and I highly doubt this is any fake news.

The only time I can think of when he led us astray was the day that Gordon Hayward signed with the Boston Celtics. Chris Haynes then of ESPN had the story first that Hayward was bolting, but then Woj denied the claim.

When the truth finally came out later that month thanks to some digging from Spence Checketts, it turns out that Woj was simply just reporting exactly what Hayward’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, had told him directly.

To give more traction to Woj’s claim of Jazz players privately complaining about Rudy, Donovan Mitchell made this post on Instagram this morning, reading:

"“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 [Utah Jazz] 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”"

If you read between the lines, you can kind of hear a frustration in his voice about people, maybe even a specific person, who were a little careless and reckless about the corona virus. It’s no secret that before all of this went down, Rudy wasn’t that worried about the COVID-19 epidemic.

He playfully touched the team microphones in a press conference after it was mandated that media should keep their distance from players. There’s little to no chance that that act itself of touching the microphones spread the virus, but unfortunately for Rudy it really tainted his reputation among the country as a “reckless irresponsible guy”.

There was no mention of Gobert in Mitchell’s Instagram post, the only other teammate who was infected. Could it be true that these two have a growing dissonance in their relationship?

Furthermore, Ryan Miller of KSL tweeted out that Mike Conley was one of the more cautious guys with the virus.

My worry is that this will cause the Jazz to lose a great deal of their connectivity and chemistry both on and off the court if they ever return to the court this season.

They won’t be able to hold any practice sessions for the foreseeable future, in fact the players, coaches, and all staff that were at the OKC game are mandated to quarantine for the next two weeks.

When it is finally safe to hold practice sessions again, if that day ever comes before June, the Jazz will have a disadvantage as being the scapegoat of the whole NBA for causing this suspension. They will be the most hated team in some people’s eyes, and that could put a real dent in their mojo.

They will likely have a quick transition into the playoffs if basketball returns this season, as it is getting late into the stretch run. Many Jazz fans, including me, were hopeful that the team could use the final month of the regular season to iron out some wrinkles before taking on the big boys in the postseason.

Unfortunately for Utah, that window of time is gone.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.