Apology for virus joke
NBA star Rudy Gobert says he feels a mixture of ‘‘fear, anxiety, embarrassment’’ after testing positive for coronavirus – two days after he joked about precautions against the disease. In an emotional post on Instagram, Utah Jazz centre Gobert thanked people for their support and apologised to those ‘‘I may have endangered’’ after he deliberately touched every microphone during a press conference ahead of his team’s game with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was seemingly mocking the restrictions the league had put in place on media availabilities in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. ‘‘I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of concern and support over the last 24 hours’’, Gobert wrote. ‘‘I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis . . . mostly fear, anxiety and embarrassment. I would like to publicly apologise to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse. I hope my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this [outbreak] seriously.’’ On Thursday, Gobert tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the NBA to suspend the league at the conclusion of the night’s matches. Gobert had been set to sit out the Jazz’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder – and Kiwi big man Steven Adams – at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, but the game never got started.