Rather than ignore snubs, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert often embraces them.
Remember, Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert came off the board last at the All-Star draft, with the 7-foot-1 Frenchman even indirectly drawing snickers from the man who had to finally select a Jazz piece, LeBron James. Plus, note “The Stifle Tower” wears No. 27 as a constant reminder that NBA big wigs effectively saw him as only the 27th best prospect in his 2013 draft class.
All in all, it’s safe to say that Gobert is no stranger to slights and slander. It’s also safe to say that such rejection from others off the court helps to fuel his regular emphatic rejections of others on the court, to the tune of the second-highest block average in the league this season at 2.9 per game.
So it’s no surprise the two-time All-Star seemed to take pleasure late Tuesday night in acknowledging a noticeable lack of his highlights on Twitter following the 117-109 bounce-back win by his Utah Jazz (29-10) at the Boston Celtics (20-19), which extended the team’s lead in the Western Conference to 2.5 games over the Phoenix Suns (26-12) and Los Angeles Lakers (27-13).
Judging from his mocking quote tweet below, Gobert didn’t seem shocked that one of the most popular Twitter accounts for NBA coverage neglected to show him any love after his latest performance:
I didn’t get crossed or dunked on so you know you won’t see me on there 😂😂 https://t.co/62ImoO8ROG
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) March 17, 2021
Plenty of highlights to choose from for the Utah Jazz big man
It’s not as if Rudy Gobert hasn’t been a spellbinding contributor to all the Utah Jazz successes this season. No, he’s arguably been both the most important and most captivating member of the roster, obviously deserving of personalized highlight reels pretty much every outing.
Combining the ultra-long specimen’s 24 points and franchise-record 28 boards in a 131-119 loss at the Golden State Warriors (20-20) on Sunday afternoon with his 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Boston Celtics, Gobert is averaging 20.0 points and 20.0 rebounds this week.
And for the season, the 28-year-old ranks No. 3 in the NBA with his 64.7 field goal percentage, No. 2 with his 13.5 rebounds per game, and No. 1 with his defensive rating of 101.5; at the same time, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year (2018, 2019) is averaging 14.5 points per game.
Just those stats alone should be highlight-worthy.
Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz will play their third game of a five-game road trip when they face the Washington Wizards at 5 p.m. MT Thursday.