Thank you, Rudy Gobert, for being careless
Call it a line in the sand, or a serious wake up call.
Call it whatever you’d like, but what happened Wednesday night in Oklahoma City after Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test was reported likely saved thousands of American lives.
Prior to Gobert’s results, the coronavirus situation in the United States wasn’t taken very seriously by many, as evidenced by the indifferent attitude shown by several politicians, like Florida congressman Matt Gaetz. On March 4, Gatez mockingly wore a gas mask as House members voted on an emergency funding package that would assist the nation’s coronavirus response. President Donald J. Trump tweeted on February 24 that, “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.”
Well, they were clearly wrong about the severity of the virus.
American sports leagues weren’t acting too quickly, either. There were talks about playing games without fans. There were discussions about moving events to smaller arenas. However, no official steps were taken.
Until Wednesday.
Rudy Gobert’s positive test led to the Jazz and Thunder game being called off and, just over an hour later, the NBA announcing that the season would be suspended indefinitely, starting immediately.
The league’s decision to suspend operations was just the beginning, as the athletic world suddenly began to stop — the NHL ceased play, the XFL season was scrapped, MLB spring training was terminated, the Masters was postponed, and the NCAA basketball championship tournaments were cancelled.
Similarly, political leaders started to increase their level of urgency around COVID-19. President Trump announced a national state of emergency, Rep. Gaetz was self-quarantined after taking a photo with a person who tested positive for the virus, and local leaders and businesses are now taking drastic measures to encourage social distancing, like cancelling public schools for kids and mandating that employees work from home.
Movie premieres and music festivals have been postponed as well, all in an attempt to slow down the spread of the sickness — a sickness that most Americans were sharing memes and making jokes about last week.
In an Instagram post made on Thursday, Rudy Gobert addressed his initial lackadaisical attitude towards COVID-19:
“The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse.”
Gobert was careless. He didn’t treat the virus with the respect and concern it deserves, but it was his carelessness that woke America up from a dangerous nap of nonchalance. His diagnosis has certainly improved our chances of staying safe, healthy, and alive — and for that I say, thank you.
