NBA star Rudy Gobert, who became the first professional athlete in the US to test positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, has apologized in an emotional post on Instagram for joking about the pandemic beforehand and exposing teammates and others to possible infection.

Professional sports leagues, including the NBA, had already started instituting restrictions over concerns of the novel coronavirus, such as limiting access to locker rooms, but on Monday, the Utah Jazz's Gobert made light of the situation by intentionally touching microphones used by all of his teammates as he ended a news conference.

By Wednesday, Gobert's diagnosis prompted the NBA to suspend the rest of its season until further notice. A day later, Gobert's teammate, Donovan Mitchell, also tested positive for the virus.