Though his French national team experience wore him out a bit, the third-year center is considered a defensive player of the year candidate.
“I’m trying to act like it doesn’t (affect me), but of course it does. We had two months of preparation and competition — nine games with crazy intensity, so of course it takes some focus and some energy.”
SALT LAKE CITY — Earlier this year, Rudy Gobert, a young man who isn’t a afraid to speak his mind, admitted that he wanted to be a starter.
Not only did Gobert’s play give his desire some credibility, but the Utah Jazz also traded away a player they’d previously thought was part of their long-term plans to ensure that the French big man would be front and center in their revised rebuild.