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Rudy Gobert Tops Michael Jordan, LeBron James & Other NBA Superstars to Achieve a Peculiar Feat

Published 12/10/2020, 6:02 AM EST

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The year 2020 has been a tough one for the world, especially for Jazz player Rudy Gobert. In March, the entire planet came to a standstill as the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone indoors. It has been a wild year, with many twists and changes that no one saw coming. In the midst of the pandemic, sports throughout the world were put on hold to keep everyone safe.

For the NBA, the league was suspended in March after several players tested positive for COVID-19. The Utah Jazz was scheduled to play the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the game was suspended moments before tip-off. This was because Utah Jazz’s center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 before the game.

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Gobert’s positive test led the authorities to suspend the NBA season. To make things worse, Gobert became a subject of ridicule on the internet. Prior to the positive test, Rudy Gobert responded to the threat of coronavirus by touching all the microphones and surfaces around him in a press conference, to dismiss the deadly virus.

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Gobert’s actions led to his positive COVID-19 test and the postponement of the fixture. Gobert became one of the biggest memes on the internet. People mocked Gobert for being dismissive of the threat of the disease, and his punishment for the same seemed like a fitting result for his nonchalance.

Rudy Gobert – Most Trending NBA Star in 2020

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In fact, Gobert’s actions even caused problems and frictions with his teammate, Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell contracted COVID-19, presumably from being in close contact with Rudy Gobert. Because of this, Mitchell was furious and unhappy with Gobert for putting him and his teammates in harm’s way with this indifference to such a dangerous disease.

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Both Mitchell and Gobert recovered and eventually mended fences. The two played together in the NBA bubble, where the Utah Jazz lost to the Denver Nuggets in seven games, blowing a 3-1 lead. However, it appears as though there are no hard feelings between the two players anymore.

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Google revealed its top trending searches for the year 2020 earlier this week. Gobert was one of the highest trending Google searches in 2020. Even ahead of athletes such as LeBron James, Drew Brees, and Tyson Fury. It is a strange accolade to hold in 2020, but Gobert’s actions, for better or worse, will go down in history.

Gober, Mitchell, and the Utah Jazz will look to put that memory behind them and get back to work when the new NBA season begins. The Jazz will want to get off to a good start after a tough playoff loss last year.

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Written by:

Aaditya Krishnamurthy

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Aaditya Krishnamurthy is an NBA & NFL journalist for EssentiallySports, before which he worked at BusinessWorld magazine. He has been a fan of Basketball for over 10 years now, since Shaquille O’Neal was a Phoenix Suns player. During his time at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, he started a sports magazine for the college called the Overtime Tribune and hosted the Overtime Tribune Podcast until he graduated.
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