Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was met with a fierce wave of online backlash after expressing his support for President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Department of Health and Human Services secretary.

On Thursday, Trump announced that Kennedy would be tasked with leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during his term. Addressing his nomination, the 70-year-old – who ran as a Democrat and independent in the 2024 presidential race before eventually casting his support behind Trump’s campaign – wrote on X: “We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic.

“I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth.”

Taking to social media, Gobert voiced his approval of Kennedy’s appointment this week, writing: “Let’s go @RobertKennedyJr” alongside a praying hands emoji. Yet droves of critics slammed the post dedicated to the anti-vaccine activist, with many shining light on the NBA star’s infamous slip-up near the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Back in March of 2020, Gobert jokingly touched every microphone and recorder laid out on a table moments after wrapping up a media availability session. Two days later, he tested positive for COVID-19 – becoming the first NBA player known to have contracted the virus.

“The guy who started the COVID outbreak in the NBA bubble is endorsing RFK,” one X user wrote, with another adding: “Covid super spreader being an RFK fan. I mean the jokes write themselves.”

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Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player known to have contracted COVID-19

Rudy Gobert was the first NBA player known to have contracted COVID-19 ( 

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A third chimed in, “NBA COVID patient 0 endorses RFK Jr. pick. A glowing endorsement.”

During a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters in December 2020, Gobert expressed regret for his actions during the aforementioned press conference. When asked what he wanted people to know about the incident, he replied: “That it came from a good intention.

“It was the first day that we found out that the media was not going to be able to interview us, right next to us, and, you know, we obviously didn’t know as much as we know now, and I only did that to try to liven the mood a little bit,” he said. “It was, of course, if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do it.”

At the time, Gobert conceded that a lot of information he was receiving regarding the coronavirus was untrustworthy. “I mean, I knew what I saw on the internet, which is a lot things, and a lot of things are true, a lot of things are not true, so you try to rate the true from the false,” he added.

“But usually, until people around you or until you experience it, you never really know what you’re going against.”