Editor’s Note: The second part of a two-day series in which The Athletic offers an inside, behind-the-scenes look at the pivotal moments that led to the NBA shutting down the league shortly after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Part 1 looked into the league’s decision and how it was executed. Now, what it was like for the Jazz during that week, as events unfolded around them.



The room sits on the second floor of Zions Bank Basketball Campus in Salt Lake City, the practice facility of the Utah Jazz, and it is occupied to some degree almost daily. It’s a room where ideas get tossed around, where trades have been executed and draft night war rooms have been set up. It’s a room where countless scenarios have been debated and basketball decisions made. On this day, it was occupied for 45 minutes, which seems like almost nothing. Twenty-four hours later, those 45 minutes were a prelude to one of the most significant events the...