This story really stings for Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who had quite a tale to explain the swelling between his nose and right eye on Thursday morning.
“It was like seven guys,” Gobert said after the Jazz’s Game 6 shootaround, “but I’m the only one who came out of the room.”
The 7-foot-1, 258-pound Gobert was just kidding. His actual assailant? A bee from the hive that he owns at his house on the outskirts of Salt Lake City.
Gobert has been a resident of the Beehive State for nine years, but he only bought his own hive about a year ago. He is quite pleased with the purchase, despite being stung a few times since then.
“It’s good for the environment, it’s good for the landscape, the flowers, the fruits,” said Gobert, whose vision wasn’t affected by the sting. “And I love honey, so I always wanted to have my own. It’s great. Sometimes there’s casualties.”
Gobert explained that his bees has been “a little upset” since he worked with a beekeeper to change the queen bee in his hive this week, so his sting isn’t too surprising. Nor, he insists, is it necessarily a bad thing, noting that he’s “always felt great for the next few days” after being stung, and that there is actually scientific research that suggests that a bee sting — “not a swarm” — can be healthy.
“There’s actually some treatments where people get stung on purpose,” Gobert said.