Before Rudy Gobert’s positive test for COVID-19 shook the sporting world and hastened the need for more urgency around the virus, Jaylen Brown had already started calling for more awareness of the illness. During a Wednesday night Instagram Live session, Brown stressed a desire to use his platform to emphasize the seriousness of the outbreak.
Brown said he had seen a lot of young people joking about the coronavirus or sharing memes about it online. He wanted to preach that this virus is no joking matter, that it is significant, heavy and poised to rattle the country.
“I want people to have the awareness of what’s going on,” Brown said. “This isn’t just a joke, this isn’t a conspiracy theory. This is for real. People will be affected by it. You might not see it now, but (soon) you might start seeing the effects. We’ve got all these people that might be getting sick, etc., and our health care, there’s only so many hospitals. So we might not be able to help and treat everybody. So washing your hands, spreading awareness as much as you can, is great. Also being considerate, limiting your amount of contact with people, staying at home if it’s possible. Because you might be carrying it or know somebody who is. And the less people you come in contact with the better.”