Utah Jazz: The ten most golden moments in franchise history

6. Rudy Gobert emerges

Previous to the 2014-15 season, Rudy Gobert had already shown signs he would take over the center spot owned by Enes Kanter. His impressive summer league performance was a good start, and his FIBA World Cup performance only helped his case for more playing time outside of the D-League.

He played really well in his role off the bench to start the season, and with Enes Kanter’s awkward fit with Derrick Favors in the frontcourt, it became clear pretty soon that the Jazz needed to move on from Kanter.

Gobert slowly but surely took his teammate’s minutes, and his coming-out party was in January of 2015 against the Chicago Bulls.

That night Gobert played a career-high 36 minutes as Enes Kanter was not available. The result? The Jazz stomped the Bulls in a blowout victory, holding them to less than 20 points in three of the four quarters.

That’s some serious defensive play in the modern NBA. Gobert finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots, and tied for the team-high plus/minus at +19. He outplayed Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah and was the answer to the Jazz’s question of how to win games as they sat at a 12-23 record before the bout in Chicago.

Once Kanter was all the way back from his injury, he started his final 15 games as a member of the Utah Jazz. The Jazz won six and lost nine of those games, and the contrast of what was coming soon after was night and day difference.

The Jazz went on to a 19-10 finish with the best defense in the league, and Gobert has gone on to become a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

As time goes by, if Gobert is able to lead the Jazz to heights only reached by John Stockton and Karl Malone in the 1990s – namely an NBA Finals appearance at the least – then this moment could easily climb into the top five in a few years.

He may even find himself on the Jazz’s Mount Rushmore.