By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive for coronavirus back in March, resulting in the quick shutdown of the league. Now with the NBA return nearing, he leaves negative comments and backlash behind, as he told reporters on Friday via Zoom call.
“I’m happy now. I’m in a good place, you know. And I’m happy that I get the joy back from playing basketball with my team and the competitiveness is back. I’m ready to try to go out there and try to win the championship. That’s the goal. And to be honest, after everything we’ve been through as a team and as human beings, it would be a great comeback,” said the French big man.
Gobert addressed the criticism surrounding him for the past few months, looking ahead to the NBA restart in Orlando, Florida.
“Obviously, when you have the whole world judging you and threatening you or sending you a lot of negative energy and stuff like that, it’s something that I would say is not easy as a human being,” Gobert said. “But at the same time, people just judge you on the perception they have and the perception they get. Sometimes it can be one picture, one video, one interview, one action.”
“I won’t be able to control everyone’s perception of me, but I can control my actions. I can control, you know, the things I do for the people around me, for the community, the things I do for my teammates on the court, off the court. All that stuff, I can control and that’s what really matters to me”, he adds.
Gobert also talked about his relationship with Donovan Mitchell, that has been reported as not salvageable, following Mitchell’s positive test for coronavirus.
“It’s never going to be perfect […] As long as we respect one another and we both share the same goals and we both do what’s best for the team, that’s what matters. And, you know, I think over the last few years that’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what we plan on continuing doing.”