Rudy Gobert is taking steps to right his initial wrong via donations to the OKC Thunder and Utah Jazz arena staff and to his home country.
There is such a spirit going around the NBA at the moment. The community is being generous to the arena staff who have been affected by the shutdown. Now the man whose test triggered it is also giving, including to the OKC Thunder.
The NBA has always been a community that bands together. However, the displays of generosity shown by Kevin Love, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mark Cuban, Joseph Tsai, and many others go above and beyond. In each of these cases, the aforementioned parties donated money to help cover lost salaries for arena staff during the suspension. Now Rudy Gobert is donating to the Utah Jazz and OKC Thunder arena staff.
He has put his hand in his pocket to the tune of $0.5 million to be paid across both organizations and some of it going to his home country of France. While Gobert’s actions were immature and irresponsible prior to the positive test, this is a step in the right direction.
Rudy Gobert is donating more than $500,000 to support both the employee relief fund at Vivint Smart Home Arena and COVID-related social services relief in Utah, Oklahoma City and within the French health care system.
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 14, 2020
» https://t.co/dxy82zTqp3
I know what it is like to worry about how you are going to pay the bills when an event is canceled. I was at the press conference at the Australian Grand Prix when it was announced that due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 the event would cease immediately.
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I had given up work to come here and I was worried that I would not be able to put food on the table for my family. This is how the arena staff would be feeling all around the NBA. The generosity of all the people who have enough to look after the arena personnel is amazing.
Gobert needed to do something, his irresponsible actions at the press table and in the locker room have not won him any fans. Quite the opposite in fact. This gesture should allow him to gain some respect back from teammates and fans.
The arena staff are still going to be able to keep their families fed for these two NBA venues, that is a positive. However, Gobert needs to do more to right the wrong. Even Jazz fans are unhappy with his actions.
*Note The Formula One Grand Prix community has been amazing too and made sure I got the extra days of work required. While we all have different teams that we follow, it fills my heart with joy when I see the best come out in people.