Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell has tested positive for coronavirus, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday morning.
The 23-year-old is teammates with Rudy Gobert, who is patient zero in the NBA after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night.
Following his infection, the NBA opted to suspend the 2019-20 season indefinitely.
According to Wojnarowski, Gobert “had been careless in the locker room” and had been touching other players and their belongings in recent days. Gobert was also seen playfully jostling with microphones and recording devices of reporters on Monday while fielding questions about coronavirus.
Initial reports claimed that Jazz guard Emmanuel Mudiay contracted the virus with Gobert, but that has not been officially confirmed by the NBA yet.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, though, Mitchell was the only member of the Jazz’s playing or coaching staff other than Gobert to positive. In total, 58 tests were administered on Wednesday night.
Mitchell is one of the NBA’s rising stars, averaging a career-best 24.2 points per game in his third season in the league.
He is an Elmsford, NY native, which is in Westchester County. His father, Donovan Sr., serves as a director of player relations for the New York Mets.
Westchester County is at the epicenter of New York’s coronavirus outbreak, with most of the cases originating from the New Rochelle area.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a containment strategy on Tuesday in which the National Guard would be dispatched to clean schools and deliver food to quarantined residents.
Mitchell’s contraction of the coronavirus is not correlated to the area at this time, only to Gobert.
The Jazz took on the Knicks on March 4 at Madison Square Garden where both Gobert and Mitchell played. It is believed the Knicks — along with other NBA teams that came in contact with the Jazz — will self-quarantine.
