Rudy Gobert on Criticism: Average Fans Might Not Understand My Value but NBA GMs Do
Written by admin on December 29, 2022
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Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert addressed critics of the offseason trade that sent him from the Utah Jazz to the T-Wolves this week.
In an interview with Tania Ganguli of the New York Times, Gobert defended the Timberwolves’ decision to send Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, four first-round picks and a 2026 pick swap to Utah in exchange for his services, saying, “The average fan might not understand what I bring to the table, but the GM’s in the league do.”
The 30-year-old Frenchman entered this season with an impressive NBA resume. He’s been named an All-Star three times, a first-team NBA All-Defensive member six times and NBA Defensive Player of the Year three times.
Even so, there was some thought that the Timberwolves mortgaged too much of their future for the 7’1″ big man, especially due to the uncertainty surrounding how he would mesh with fellow All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
While Towns is currently injured, early returns on the experiment have not been positive. Minnesota is a disappointing 16-19 and sits 11th in the Western Conference, two games behind the ninth-place Jazz.
The Timberwolves’ struggles have given ammo to Gobert’s detractors, which he addressed while speaking to Ganguli:
“A lot of people celebrate my failures. It’s kind of like a mark of respect for me just to have people that just wait until I do something wrong or until my teams start losing. Then they become really, really loud. And when my teams do well, it’s quiet again. You know, I kind of embrace that it’s part of the external noise that comes with all the success that we’ve had in Utah and over the last few years in my career.”
Gobert went on to explain that while the haters became more plentiful as he enjoyed more individual success in his career, they are primarily relegated to the internet and media rather than real-life interactions:
“[The criticism began] once I started to have success, when I started winning Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA, being an All-Star. When my team, when we started winning like 50 games and stuff. The people on social media are always the loudest. When I go outside, it’s usually all the interactions are positive.
“Social media is a different place, and the people that have a lot of frustration can put it out there. The fans are going to have opinions. I’m more talking about the media.”
Gobert’s production is unmistakably down this season, as his 13.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per game are his lowest since the 2017-18 season, as is his field goal percentage of 66.7 percent. Also, Gobert’s 1.3 blocks and 0.9 assists per game are his fewest since his rookie season in 2013-14.
While it has been far from a dream start for Gobert in Minnesota, there is plenty of time left to turn things around, especially with how tight the West is. Even at 16-19, the T-Wolves are only 6.5 games behind the first-place New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets and just three games out of sixth, which is the final playoff spot before the play-in cutoff.
The Timberwolves will need more out of Gobert to achieve what they are capable of. But once Towns gets healthy and joins forces with Gobert, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell, Minnesota could be a handful.
