Reflecting on the Moment That Has Defined Rudy Gobert

On March 9, 2020, Rudy Gobert did something that he would eventually regret. Following a shootaround, he did his media availability with local media in Salt Lake City. As he got up to leave, he jokingly touched all the microphones with his hands, a deliberate dig at the growing concern over COVID-19, which was starting to spread in the United States.

It’s a moment that has followed Gobert since then, as he became the face of what not to do during an impending pandemic. Two days after the mic touching incident, Gobert tested positive for the virus, and the league officially suspended all games indefinitely. The moment been attached to Gobert like a scarlet letter, forever impacting the way that we view him. Which leads us to wonder, will we ever be able to look past his uninformed lapse of judgement?

Immediate Fallout

Heading into the 2019-20 season, Rudy Gobert had emerged as a defensive standout in the NBA. He was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time All-Defense first team selection. From 2016-17 thru 2018-19 he led the NBA in blocked shots and led the league in blocks per game in 2016-17. Alongside superstar guard Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz became perennial playoff contenders in the Western Conference.

Any goodwill of that era quickly eroded when Gobert touched the mics that day in March 2020. In the immediate aftermath of his positive COVID test, Gobert took to Instagram noting that he “was careless and make no excuse”. He also added that he hoped that “my story serves as a warning and causes everyone to take this seriously”.

His message ultimately fell flat, with many fans blaming Gobert directly for the league shutting down, calling him a clown and an asshole. On top of the negative fan sentiment, this entire incident caused a rift between Gobert and Mitchell--likely being the catalyst that led to both players being traded in the summer of 2022.

Mitchell contracted the virus shortly after Gobert did and two had a fractured relationship for the remainder of their time in Utah together. Mitchell would later go on to blame their collective immaturity for the situation, but it was clear that the mic touching incident spelled the end of their time as teammates and accelerated a rebuild that the Jazz are conducting to this day.

The unfortunate reality of the fallout that Gobert experienced was rooted in just how little we knew at the time. One day after Gobert’s diagnosis, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic with over 118,000 cases worldwide at the time. A day after that announcement, the US government declared a nationwide emergency and issued wide-ranging travel bans.

By the end of the month, lockdowns were in effect and multiple people were unsure of what the future would hold. Gobert’s gaffe at the press conference was done with little education and could be viewed as someone trying to lighten the mood of a very serious situation. It was a moment of incredibly poor awareness, one that had near immediate repercussions when he tested positive for the virus.

He made a very publicly visible error, one he has owned up to and expressed remorse over. But that moment has colored the way that he is viewed and has allowed us to discount his ability on the basketball court almost six years later. What has been missed in the insistence on dismissing Gobert is that he has accumulated a resume as one of the better defensive talents that the league has seen.

An Impressive Statistical Career

Every now and then on social media, there is a clip that goes viral from a podcast that debates Gobert’s Hall of Fame candidacy. Pundits often come to the conclusion that there is no debate, and Gobert will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

His resume, however, suggests a compelling debate. He has made All-NBA four times, has won Defensive Player of the Year four times, has made the All-Defensive team eight times, and was named an All-Star three times. If you compare Gobert’s accolades with a recent inductee, Vince Carter, his case becomes clear. Carter made eight All-Star teams, but was only All-NBA twice, and was the Rookie of the Year in 1999. Those accomplishments pale in comparison to Gobert’s resume, and yet there was no debate about Carter’s Hall of Fame candidacy by most basketball fans.

What often gets lost in the discourse about Gobert is that for an eight year stretch he was one of the best rim protecting big men in the league. He has ranked in the 90th percentile or above in block percentage in nine of his 13 years in the NBA. He is also one of the most efficient scoring players in NBA history, ranking in the 80th percentile of better in points per shot attempt in all but two of his seasons. Gobert is also currently the all-time leader in true shooting percentage.

He has consistently been one of the better rebounders in the sport. In all but two of his seasons he has been in the 80th percentile or better in defensive rebounding rate. In raw statistics, he has led the league defensive rebounding once and in total rebounds twice.

Beyond the counting stats and advanced analytics, Gobert has largely been a winning player. The Jazz made the playoffs in six of his nine years there, and now in his fourth season with Minnesota, he has been a substantial part of the Timberwolves getting to the Western Conference Finals two years in a row. He has had this success as a starter with an important role on these teams--as the second star in Utah and usually as the third best player in Minnesota.

The trouble with the perception of Gobert for many is in his lack of versatility in a game that has rapidly evolved to demanding it. Gobert has never been an excellent shooter. In fact, 78% of his shots over his career have been within three feet of the basket and 42% of his attempts are dunks--which explains why his field goal percentage is always so high.

As the game has evolved into more spacing and switching on defense, players like Gobert are at a distinct disadvantage. Where in the past he could roam the baseline and the paint to contest shots at the rim, players like Gobert are now brought into the action to be exploited off the dribble by shiftier guards. Yet despite this clear weakness in the modern game, Gobert has remained an excellent defender, winning Defensive Player of the Year as recently as 2024 where he led the league in defensive win shares.

The numbers of Gobert tell the story of a player that possessed a handful of skills but maximized his ability on those skills. He never added the corner three to his arsenal like Bam Adebayo and never developed a truly lethal midrange shot. But as a rim-running big with a focus on rebounding and blocked shots, he has been one of the best of his era. And yet, all of this is brushed away, and the disdain for him persists. It seems that a careless moment in a time of confusion will follow him throughout his career. It’s fair to question whether that’s a fair verdict in this case or any case for that matter.

The Definition of a Moment

Nearly six years removed from Gobert’s mic touching moment, we can reflect and likely draw the conclusion that it was a moment of recklessness by someone who’s intentions were not nefarious. And yet despite rampant apologies and him moving forward with his career, his worst moment off the court is what comes to mind first for many fans.

The incident has in a way become Gobert’s Pete Rose moment. Rose is of course infamous for betting on baseball--an act that has kept him out of the Hall of Fame. While there is some momentum in the direction of Rose finally getting inducted into the Hall, his name will forever be attached to the gambling scandal.

While many basketball fans will remember Gobert for his many defensive accolades, it seems that any post about him on social media or a Reddit forum will bring up the mic touch that made COVID a reality in the NBA. What gets lost in the memory of a viral moment is that COVID confusion was rampant at the time, with everyone grappling with how to adjust to a new normal.

That nuance seems to disappear when it comes to Gobert. The moment instead has defined the opinion of him. Many call him overrated and overpaid, and it’s hard not to think that the lingering animus about a moment that made his something of an enemy in the court of public opinion. Since the event he has won awards and been a part of two Conference Finals teams. It doesn’t seem that anyone will ever forget the incident in Utah.

In interviews, Gobert remains remorseful of the moment, noting how uninformed he was at the time. Will we ever be able to look past his uninformed lapse of judgment? The answer, nearly six years later, appears to be no. Not because we can’t, but because we’ve chosen not to. Rudy Gobert will retire as one of the greatest defensive players of his generation, and he’ll be remembered as the guy who touched the microphones. That’s not fair. But fairness has never been part of the equation.

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