Rudy Gobert said he was able to repair his relationship with Donovan Mitchell with open dialogue.
In an interview with The Athletic's Sam Amick, Jazz center Rudy Gobert opened up about repairing his relationship with his All-Star teammate Donovan Mitchell.
In March, Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19 and subsequently infected Mitchell, which reportedly caused a rift in their relationship.
Gobert said that he became frustrated with the reports that came out about their relationship but eventually was able to get on a phone call with Mitchell to air out their problems.
"We had a very honest conversation, and that’s all I needed," Gobert said. "You know, after that, once I knew that I told him everything that was on my mind and I heard everything that was on his mind, I knew that we could move forward. I’m not going to disclose all that, but I knew that once we (had that conversation) we could move forward."
After the Jazz entered the Orlando bubble for the 2020 playoffs, the team fared well in the return to play. Utah was up 3-1 against the Nuggets in the first round but fell victim to a major comeback by Denver and lost the series in seven games. Despite the playoff meltdown and friction between Gobert and Mitchell, the two have committed to the Jazz for the next few years
Both players signed five-year contracts and now are on top of the Western Conference at 16-5 with Gobert averaging 13.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and a career-best 2.7 blocks.
The Jazz have won of their last 13 games and are slated to play the Hawks on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.