Rudy Gobert has finally achieved All-Star status
Rudy Gobert has been one of the NBA’s elite players in the past few years. Now he is finally getting the All-Star recognition he deserves
When we think of elite interior defense in NBA basketball, who is the first person that comes to mind? Who is the prime example of someone that has many players actually afraid to drive into the lane?
For what I believe would be a majority of us, the player that comes to mind is Rudy Gobert. Standing at 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-9 wingspan, the Stifle Tower lives up to his nickname. Currently, he is fourth in the league in blocks per game (2.0), second in rebounds per game (14.5), and first in field goal percentage (68.7%).
As happy as we are for Gobert’s first-team selection, he probably should have been on the team earlier than this. He has won Defensive Player of the Year each of the past two seasons and been All-Defensive first team for the past three seasons. He has been known as one of the best defensive forces in basketball for a few years now and is just now getting All-Star recognition.
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But even outside of the defensive honors, Gobert has also been on the All-NBA team (second and third team) the past two years. Speaking very loosely, this pretty much infers that he is one of the best 15 players in the NBA. How does a top 15 player not make the All-Star team? This is something that many people, including Gobert himself, have asked until this year.
I know all of my gripes are pretty pointless. Those seasons have come and gone and at least Gobert has made the team after the snubs in the past. What I’m trying to say is that we are taking players like Gobert for granted. In an increasingly offense-driven game, we should appreciate the talents of players who can be that force of nature against a high powered offense.
When everyday fans watch basketball, a lot of the time they only see the highlight plays like the deep 3’s and the high flying dunks that fill up their timelines. But what has become under-appreciated is the little things like defense and rebounding that are vital in the success of teams hoping to contend in the playoffs, things that Gobert has mastered in helping Utah becoming a top team in the league.
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Gobert has finally achieved the one honor that has continually escaped him the past few years, and it makes me happy to see his importance to this lethal Utah team being recognized by more fans along with his peers. At age 27, he still has much of his prime left, which hopefully leads to even more All-Star selections in a long and illustrious career.