A second Utah Jazz player has tested positive for the coronavirus, the team confirmed Thursday morning. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was the player.
All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive on Wednesday, and his diagnosis led to the NBA opting to suspend its season indefinitely.
“Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has tested positive for the coronavirus, league sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski wrote on Twitter. “Jazz players privately say that Rudy Gobert had been careless in the locker room touching other players and their belongings. Now a Jazz teammate has tested positive.”
Gobert, 27, was seen touching every reporter’s microphone stationed at the podium at the end of a media session on Monday that addressed, in part, the coronavirus. His action was perceived to be done in a joking manner.
Mitchell, 23, leads the Jazz by averaging 24.2 points per game.
Players and staff for Utah remain in quarantine at a hotel in Oklahoma City pending the results of all coronavirus tests.
All members of the franchise who traveled on the team charter were required to submit to a cheek swab to test for COVID-19 after Gobert tested positive. The Jazz originally thought Gobert had the flu, and he was listed as questionable for Wednesday night’s game with the Thunder, which was canceled.
The NBA told teams that have played the Jazz in the past 10 days that they should self-quarantine. Utah’s opponents since March 2 were the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors.
