Flipping the Frame: How Rudy Gobert Went From an Episodic Bad Actor to a Thematic Hero

Rudy Gobert's positive COVID-19 diagnosis in March of 2020 started the process that led to American sports shutting down in the early days of the pandemic. After the diagnosis, video of him touching reporters' voice recorders at a press availability went viral. This framing analysis in five mainstream newspapers finds that over the course of 72 hours, Gobert went from a bad actor to a hero in news copy as an episodic frame focusing on his actions gave way to a thematic frame about the virus and its effects on the country.