When Rudy Gobert came to Utah from his native France, he didn’t always know what to say.
Yes, he wanted more than anything to prove himself in the context of the NBA, to prove the doubters wrong, to outperform the No. 27 draft selection he wears on his back every night.
But there was a certain reality to his situation. In his rookie season, he was, at best, the Jazz’s third center behind both Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, and fought for minutes with a frightfully poor Andris Biedrins. He found himself playing for the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League.