RUDY GOBERT OF THE UTAH JAZZ PLEDGED TO DONATE MORE THAN $500,000 TO RELIEF EFFORTS FOR THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC,
Rudy Gobert of the
Utah Jazz offered the first of what he said will be “many steps” he will take to help with the coronavirus pandemic, pledging Saturday to donate more than $500,000 to relief efforts.
Gobert, who was the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19 — a diagnosis that prompted the NBA to suspend its season for at least a month — said he is giving $200,000 to parttime employees at the arena that plays host to
Jazz games to help cover their lost wages.
He also pledged $100,000 each to assist families affected by the pandemic in Oklahoma City, where he was when the diagnosis came, and Utah. He also is giving 100,000 Euros ($111,450 USD) to relief efforts in France, earmarking that for childcare assistance to healthcare workers as well as for caregivers to the elderly.
“I am humbled by the tireless efforts and care of people around the globe for those affected by COVID-19, especially my own communities of Utah and
France, in addition to my appreciation for the state of Oklahoma and my care there, and of course, my Utah Jazz family,” Gobert said in a release distributed by the Jazz.
“I know there are countless ways that people have been impacted,” Gobert continued. “These donations are a small token that reflect my appreciation and support for all those impacted and are the first of many steps I will take to try and make a positive difference, while continuing to learn more about COVID-19 and educate others.”
Gobert was diagnosed Wednesday, moments before the Jazz were to play in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. That game was called off, the league said it was suspending operations after the slate of games that night was completed, and a subsequent New Orleans at Sacramento game — which would have been the last on the NBA slate that night — was also canceled because one of the referees in that game had worked a Jazz game two nights earlier.
ETC.
Cycling: German cyclist Maximilian Schachmann won the Paris-Nice race on Saturday in a rare case of a sporting event still going ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic. While France’s soccer and rugby leagues scrapped their matches indefinitely on a hectic Friday — amid cancellations around the world — organizers maintained one of cycling’s biggest stage races. They only shortened it by scrapping Sunday’s traditional last stage into the southern city of Nice.
A Winter sports: Martin Fourcade finished his career as one of the greatest biathletes by winning his last race on the 10th anniversary of his first pursuit win — in the same place. France’s most successful Winter Olympian with five gold medals announced his retirement on Saturday then won his final race in Kontiolahti, Finland, narrowly missing out on an eighth World Cup sprint title. With perfect symmetry, Fourcade’s 83rd and final individual win was 10 years to the day where he got his first individual win. At the Winter Olympics he won three golds at Pyeongchang in 2018 — pursuit, mass start and mixed relay —and two at the 2014 Sochi Games in pursuit and individual.