Back to the Utah Jazz Newsfeed

Rudy Gobert fulfills season-long goal to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year award: ‘It’s a great honor’

Corinne Gobert and Rudy Bourgarel welcomed their son Rudy Gobert into the world on June 26, 1992, in Saint-Quentin, France.

The day before his 26th birthday on Monday, their 7-foot-1 son stood tall on the stage at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California as the NBA's 2017-18 Defensive Player of the Year award winner.

“First of all, it’s a great honor for me to be here tonight,” Gobert told the crowd, in his stylish custom-fitted hot pink suit. “Having all these great people all around me, great players.

“If I would’ve thought 15 years ago that I would’ve been here today, I probably wouldn’t believe it.