Rudy Gobert Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: C
Born: 06/26/92
Height: 7-1 / 2.16
Weight:238 lbs. / 108 kg.
Salary: $25,258,427
Born: 06/26/92
Height: 7-1 / 2.16
Weight:238 lbs. / 108 kg.
Salary: $25,258,427
Were those teams chasing the Western Conference’s play-in tournament thrilled with the Utah Jazz’s decision to sit four starters with injuries and rest center Rudy Gobert in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs? Among teams trying to catch the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed, they were somewhere between displeased and livid, sources said. The Jazz violated nothing of the league’s resting rules with Gobert, and properly documented injuries to four more starters, but the optics of the starting five sitting out in an eminently winnable game against the Spurs were harsh.
When we found out that Rudy had tested positive, that was a really difficult first hour. You’re thinking of everybody you came in contact with (I was just with my mom and sister in New York), you’re googling stuff (always a bad idea), you’re trying to respond to all the people who are worried about you. It was so many different emotions. But we were locked down in there for eight hours, man. There’s only so long you can be nervous. After the first hour, we couldn’t take it anymore. We shut off all the TVs and we put our phones on silent and we just tried to break the tension by talking and just enjoying each other’s company. We learned a lot about one another in that moment. And I know this is going to sound weird, but when I think back on those seven hours, it was a really important moment in my life. It was deep.
Similarly to the MVP category, Giannis Antetokounmpo won the Defensive Player of the Year vote in a landslide over Rudy Gobert.
Asked afterward if it was something of a “poetic moment” for those two to connect on what proved to be the game-winning play, coach Quin Snyder wouldn’t go that far, but acknowledged that there has been and continues to be growth between them. “I don’t think either one of those guys are writing poetry, but they certainly had some synergy on the court. I’d love ‘em to write poetry! But just to see them connected like that was really good,” Snyder said. “We’ve moved on from all that stuff — we’ve been here practicing and working and we’ve talked about using this experience to get better. And I think those two guys have done that, too. Sometimes, it’s just what you do on the court, even if just from an execution standpoint, and that’s one of the things we’re seeing.”
More important, Gobert also scored the game’s final points, hitting a pair of go-ahead free throws with 6.9 seconds remaining. “I’m just grateful,” Gobert told ESPN in a telephone interview after the Jazz’s 106-104 victory at Walt Disney World’s HP Field House. “Just grateful to be able to do what I love to do. After everything that I’ve personally and everything the world is going through right now, to be able to keep inspiring millions of kids around the world and keep spreading positivity is just a blessing. “And it’s great to start with a win, of course.”
It wasn’t just who scored the game-winning free throws, it was how he got there that was also fitting. With the clock winding down and the game tied, on a second-chance opportunity, Mitchell drove into the lane, Jrue Holiday hounding him the entire way, and as soon as Derrick Favors’ attention turned toward Mitchell rather than Gobert, Spida dished off to the Stifle Tower and the rest was history. “Hopefully that kind of stops y’all from talking about it to be honest,” Mitchell said of the play and his and Gobert’s recent history. “At the end of the day, we’re basketball players and we go out there and make the right plays and he did a hell of a job today.”
Rudy Gobert opens up about struggles
“It was hard for me to see so many people question my character based on one video,” Gobert said. “That was a big learning experience. I know who I am. People around me know who I am. Everyone is going to have a different perception and opinion of you. If I start putting my energy into that, I’m going to be living a very painful life.”
“The media portrayed it like I caused the NBA to shut down,” the soft-spoken Gobert told The Washington Post in an extended interview Friday, “instead of saying that it’s a pandemic and Rudy Gobert tested positive. For a lot of people who don’t think further than what’s put in their faces, they really thought I brought the coronavirus to the United States.” Gobert, a self-described jokester, smirked at the thought, but he wasn’t kidding.
The mental challenges and fear were as bad as the physical effects, Gobert recalled, and concerns about “my life and my family” trumped thoughts about his career. His mother, Corrine, was stuck in France, alone, at a time when international travel was inadvisable or impossible. “The toughest part was that I was away from my mom,” Gobert said reluctantly, noting that mother and son are in the midst of the longest separation of his life. “I didn’t want her to come over, because I didn’t know if I was still contagious or not. I still haven’t seen my mom since everything happened. It’s something I don’t really like to talk about, but she’s supported me a lot since I was very young. Just knowing how worried she was and knowing she wasn’t able to be with me, it was pretty tough mentally.”
He tried to piece together how he had contracted the virus, concluding that it probably happened on the road trip in New York, Boston or Detroit. He wondered how it was possible that other members of the Jazz didn’t test positive given that he shared locker rooms with his teammates and received massages from team staffers. As he recovered, he concluded that he probably wasn’t the first NBA player to contract the virus — just the first to return a positive test. He might have been careless with the microphones, but Mitchell or Wood easily could have exposed him to the virus rather than the other way around.
“When everything happened, [Mitchell] was frustrated,” Gobert said. “I was frustrated. I really wanted to make sure that he was fine. It wasn’t really about going into a conflict or arguing. [After time passed], I was able to call him and tell him what was on my mind, and he did the same. I think that’s what men should do. Don’t put the business out there in the media. People were seeing this as something that could destroy the group. I see it as something that could make the group even stronger. If you’re able to come back from that, we won’t be worried about a team beating us or a bad defensive quarter. It gives perspective.”
While Gobert acknowledged that it’s “hard for me to be vulnerable” in discussing his mental health, he was “going through some stuff that people don’t know.” The period was so challenging that he didn’t feel ready to play when the bubble concept gained traction in April. “I was still not in the right state of mind to play basketball,” Gobert said. “I didn’t think it could happen at that point. As things went by, we had meetings and learned more about the virus, I started feeling better mentally and physically.
Gobert has fought the “defensive specialist” label ever since, never more so than this season, when his scoring average dipped for the second time in his seven-year career. The first time was when Mitchell came on board. “Rudy wasn’t doing what they wanted him to do at a certain point this season,” a rival scout says. “He became enamored with his offense. He’s a hard dude to play with. He can only do so much on offense. He’s not a particularly skilled player.”
A former Jazz teammate concedes Gobert can wear on people but dismisses the idea that he’s a malcontent. “Some people get frustrated with Rudy, but he’s just French,” he jokes. “He’s a good guy. But he’s focused on being as great as he can be, and he wants to show he can do more than just defense. … All of us get frustrated when we’re missed. [But] there are much worse … NBA personalities than Rudy. I hate to even comment because I think it’s only going to get bad if it’s overspeculated in the media. If it’s not, they will figure it out and be professional.”
According to league sources, he apparently was angry with Gobert not just for his belief Gobert infected him, thereby forcing him to undergo the uncomfortable test procedure and remain in quarantine for 14 days, but also for potentially putting more vulnerable members of the Jazz organization at risk. “Donovan is probably one of the smartest, most empathetic players in the league,” one rival GM says.
David Locke: Defensive Player of the year voters. Here are a few notes for you. Isolation defenders at least 100 chances #1 in the NBA is @Rudy Gobert Keep telling me the game is phasing him out. He is the best isolation defender in the NBA and the best rim defender
The 22 teams participating in the season restart feature 89 international players from 34 countries and territories, including the record eight international 2020 NBA All-Stars: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece), Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011), Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz; France), Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers; Lithuania)*, Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012) and Ben Simmons (76ers; Australia).
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Eric Woodyard: All 4 of Donovan Mitchell’s assists were to Rudy Gobert today. Mitchell on early on-court chemistry with Gobert: “We both are doing a great job on our end to make it easier for each other.”
It’s hard to hear Rudy Gobert or understand what he says, by his own admission. He’s a low talker and speaks in a thick, French accent. Talking through a mask only makes it tougher, and he didn’t want to wear one for his postgame press conference Saturday. But Patient Zero for the NBA and COVID-19 did put one on. Donovan Mitchell, meanwhile, one can clearly hear him. So as Gobert was in the chair Saturday, low talking to the handful of reporters standing next to him and the others listening on Zoom, Mitchell and some Jazz teammates walked by and heckled Gobert. “Louder,” “Can’t hear you,” they said. And then Mitchell added: “Not one, not two, but three times.” And then, another, “Can’t hear you.”
Much has been made about the relationship between Utah’s two stars (it’s icy), and in an excellent ESPN story during the pandemic, an episode between them was discussed when Gobert grew angry at Mitchell for heckling him during an interview. Gobert’s response was “pass the damn ball.” No need to say that on Saturday. “I think we try to do the right thing for the team,” Gobert said of Mitchell. “I think we try to make plays for one another. I think we’re creating, communicating on defense, trying to do all the things to help the team.”
The NBA suspended the season on March 11 after Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and Mitchell tested positive shortly afterwards. That led to tension over how Gobert initially did not take the virus seriously, including when he touched reporters’ microphones shortly before his diagnosis. “People don’t have much to talk about for months. That was the topic of the moment,” Gobert said. “That’s not a bad thing. It’s time to put it behind. I get asked about it everyday. I can understand. But I hope they have some more interesting topics.”
For Saturday’s scrimmages, the NBA featured pre-recorded segments of league officials posing as fans. Those segments aired before the game as well as periodically during the game. Once the season relaunch starts, though, the NBA will showcase about 300 “virtual fans” on 17-foot video boards throughout the game. That will include family members. “It can be a good thing. It reminds me of ‘Black Mirror,'” Gobert said. “I like the concept. It will be great for families to watch us and know that we can see them in the stands.”
The Utah Jazz drafted comic book style artwork to campaign for their players end of season awards hopes. Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Jordan Clarkson were all featured in separate comics designed to highlight their accomplishments on the floor. The team planned to print and distribute the work to voting media members before the end of the regular season, but the league’s suspension ended that possibility.
Tony Jones: Coach Snyder started his presser by reading a passage on social justice from 1899. He then spoke on the upcoming scrimmages and talked about Rudy Gobert’s ever reaching impact defensively
As she absorbed the news, Rooks sought guidance from a trio of NBA players who had previously tested positive for the coronavirus: Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, whose positive test in March triggered the league’s suspension of play; his teammate Donovan Mitchell; and the Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie, who opted not to join his team in the bubble after testing positive earlier this month. “They were super helpful, and I’m also thankful to them for not telling anybody,” Rooks laughed. Ultimately, Rooks could breathe a sigh of relief: The initial result was deemed a false positive after subsequent retests came back negative.
NBA players watch basketball all the time. They watch on TV, they review film, they watch games they’re interested in via NBA LeaguePass. Even during the playoffs, it’s not uncommon to see players from noncompeting teams show up in person to watch the action. This time, the situation is a little unique because players won’t have to watch the games on TV. They’ll be right there, with every game played available to them. “I think it’s great that we’ll be able to do that,” Jazz center Rudy Gobert said Monday. “We’re all fans of the game of basketball. I think I’m definitely going to go watch some games.”
Eric Walden: Asked if he thought Rudy Gobert deserved to win DPOY for a 3rd straight season, Joe Ingles “shockingly” said yes. “Do I think he’s the best defensive player in the league? Absolutely.” Added that even if Rudy doesn’t win it, everyone in the league knows his value on that end.
Eric Walden: Asked how the Jazz can play more uptempo with top transition finisher Bojan Bogdanovic out, Ingles said he expects lots of lineups in which Gobert/Bradley are surrounded by 4 guys who “can handle, push, rebound the ball. … We can be a really dangerous team playing like that.”
Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player to test positive for the coronavirus, in March, won’t be relying on the league’s anonymous safety tip line to hold others accountable within the Orlando bubble. “I don’t know if someone’s gonna use it, but I think it’s sort of petty,” said Gobert, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. “At the same time, you want to make sure that people respect the rules.
Eric Woodyard: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert on using anonymous hotline: “I don’t know if someone’s gonna use it.” He says it’s more about respect and making sure guys socialize while respecting each other’s space.
11 Jul
Eric Walden: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert noted that “Staying in a room for 36 hours is not the best thing to do,” but said he’s appreciated the NBA’s level of caution. Said he passed that time by playing Call of Duty, reading a little bit, and sleeping.
Eric Walden: Rudy Gobert, on the wristbands everyone is required to wear, which function as a proximity alarm and provide data tracking: “It’s better to be too cautious than not enough.” Said his alarm hasn’t gone off yet; doesn’t know if it’s not activated or if he’s distancing well.
Andy Larsen: Rudy Gobert, on why he chose “Equality” to go on his jersey: “I think Equality is a powerful word… It’s something that we can strive to attain as a society… I think we’d be lying to ourselves if we thought that was the case today. We’ve got to keep pushing in that direction.”
In that story, Gobert said he can be “annoying” when it comes to demanding the ball and that he didn’t blame Mitchell for how he responded after both tested positive for the virus. He admitted there had been issues between the two players in the past — and he wasn’t blameless. “I was very impressed at how open Rudy was; how he owned certain points,” Lindsey said. “There was a real vulnerability and some self-reflection. I’ve just seen some real maturity. You know there are some things that we all have to look at ourselves when we get critiqued and I’m not sure I’m good at that at 51 years old. But I was quite impressed that Rudy at 28 could reflect and share how he’s felt about a number of things.”
Ira Winderman: Per tonight’s TNT show, Heat center Meyers Leonard to go with “equality” on the back of his jersey for the start of the NBA resumption at Disney:
There had long been friction between the two, the kind typical with NBA duos, particularly if those star players are relatively early in their careers — and especially in a roller-coaster season such as this one for the Jazz, who have basically played .500 ball aside from a 19-2 run in December and January. One high-ranking Jazz source categorized the pre-pandemic issues between the 28-year-old Gobert and Mitchell, 23, as “a 2 out of 10 on the NBA drama scale.”
But when their strained relationship following the positive tests lingered in public view for months, it increased the intensity of their issues and put a spotlight on an already-tense dynamic. It’s a spotlight that was created because, according to sources, Mitchell blamed Gobert for infecting him with COVID-19.
