Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert has caught a lot of flack in recent days after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Danny Green, however, doesn’t think that’s very fair.

“I don’t think he should be blamed or bashed as much as he is,” Green said in a FaceTime with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks on Saturday. “I mean, it could have happened to anybody.”

“I don’t think he should be blamed or bashed as much as he is."



Lakers SG Danny Green discusses Rudy Gobert and COVID-19 in the NBA in exclusive FaceTime with @TaylorRooks pic.twitter.com/Wgl4Ib2dER — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 14, 2020

Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night. The NBA quickly suspended the season indefinitely just moments later, which sparked a domino effect in the sports world. Before long, nearly every other sports league in the country had postponed, canceled events or suspended operations.

Gobert has drawn a lot of criticism, too, as he was reportedly “careless” in the locker room in recent days and even made a point to touch every media member’s microphone and recorder on Monday to make a joke about the virus.

[ Coronavirus: How the sports world is responding to the pandemic ]

He has since apologized and attempted to make things right, even donating $500,000 to Jazz arena workers and other coronavirus-related services in Utah, Oklahoma and France.

“I feel like people are blaming him for a lot of things when obviously he was a little careless at times, but who's to say that’s necessarily the reason why that’s happened?” Green said, via Bleacher Report. “He probably should have been more careful, but it’s not all his fault.”

View photos Danny Green stood up for Rudy Gobert on Saturday after the Jazz center was the first NBA player to test positive for the coronavirus. (Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) More

Gobert catching COVID-19 ‘was necessary for us’

While Green obviously doesn’t want anyone to be infected, he actually thinks that Gobert catching the coronavirus ended up being a good thing — not just for the sport, but for everyone in general.

If nothing else, Gobert becoming infected opened people’s eyes to how serious this pandemic actually is.

And even if Gobert hadn’t have caught the coronavirus, somebody else would have.

“This was going to happen regardless of whether it was going to happen to him or somebody else,” Green said, via Bleacher Report. “Somebody in the NBA was going to catch the virus and give us a wakeup call. “I think it was needed. It was necessary for us — not just for the basketball world — but for the rest of the world to take it seriously … But this wouldn’t have happened if Rudy [hadn’t] caught it. So I’m glad that things happened the way he did.”

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