Rudy Gobert Fittingly Scores First Official Bucket in NBA Bubble

Rudy Gobert was at the center of national news back in mid-March, right as COVID-19 was picking up steam in the states. The center tested positive for the virus right before a game, forcing the league to cancel the game and put the season on pause. This set off a chain of matching events in other professional and collegiate sports and officially made the virus feel a hell of a lot more legit. The fact that it was Gobert was also significant because just two days earlier he was visibly not taking the virus seriously, memorably going out of his way to touch all reporters recorders after a press conference.

So, fast-forward to the present day: the NBA is officially back in Orlando with 22 isolated teams. The first two games kicked off on Thursday night after weeks of practicing and exhibition games. Gobert, now healthy, was part of the first game of the restart, and guess who got the first bucket? Quite fittingly, it was Rudy Gobert. Awesome stuff.

The Jazz came back to win the game 106-104 after trailing by double digits. Gobert also had clutch free throws to put the Jazz ahead with less than 10 seconds to go.

Other Jazz players also tested positive after Gobert back in March, including Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. There was reportedly friction between the two but Jazz coach Quinn Snyder told ESPN they have “moved on.”

Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.