Rudy Gobert’s strut is distinctive: He holds his head high, his arms sway like willow branches, and he covers great swaths of ground with every step. It’s a confident walk — one that says he always knows where he is going.
So as he surveyed the visiting locker room in Atlanta back in January, with a towel wrapped around his neck and ice bags resting on his knees, the 7-foot-1 center took stock of his team. The Jazz had just suffered arguably their worst loss of the season to the bottom-of-the-standings Hawks and had fallen to 19-28 for the season.