With the Lakers and Jazz tied at 96 in the closing minute of the fourth quarter, Rudy Gobert found himself stranded on an island. A desolate, unforgiving space inhabited only by him, the burning glare of the audience in the arena and at home, as well as the man who has ruled this lethal, craggy rock for the last 19 years — LeBron James.
For Gobert, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and human fly-swatter, he was, in this particular moment, out of the shallow end; drowning in water so deep and unfamiliar, not even his 7’9” wingspan could help him swim out of it.