Sometime around 4:30 p.m. local time Monday, Rudy Gobert walked out of the 21c Museum Hotel in the west end of downtown Oklahoma City and stepped onto a bus to make the seven-block trip over to Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Nine and a half months ago, Gobert walked out of that same hotel and stepped into a car to be taken about 20 blocks away to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center to be tested for COVID-19. It seemed preposterous Gobert might actually have the virus, but after returning negative tests for strep and flu, he got a swab up his nose and less than 24 hours later -- only about 10 minutes before the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz were scheduled to tip off on March 11 -- he tested positive for the coronavirus, kicking off a series of events that forever changed the NBA, and the sports world as a whole.