Rudy Gobert Fantasy News and Statistics

There has been a boom of Frenchmen in the NBA over the last dozen years thanks to the success of the Belgian-born, but French-raised, Tony Parker. Rudy Gobert is one of those players from France to hit the NBA in recent years, and even though his playing style is far different than Parker’s, his impact is all the same. “The French Rejection” has become one of the best defenders in the NBA and is now the franchise player for the Utah Jazz.

The son of a professional player in France, Gobert followed in his father’s footsteps and took up basketball at the age of 11. By the age of 17, Gobert was playing professionally for one of France’s club teams, and his uncanny size caught the eye of NBA personnel. He would play in France for four seasons before declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft, which allowed him to attend the NBA Draft Combine. It was there where the legend of Gobert was born, as he set Combine records for both standing reach (9 feet 7 inches) and wingspan (7 feet 8.5 inches). But even with his dimensions, Gobert’s skinny frame and lack of competition in France had many skeptical, and he dropped to the No. 27 overall pick where he was taken by the Jazz.

After back-to-back winning seasons, Utah started a rebuild in Gobert’s rookie year as they had the league’s third-youngest roster. But Gobert was still an afterthought at that point, as the Jazz featured recent No. 3 draft picks Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter over him. Gobert split his time between the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League and the Jazz bench, as he played in just 45 NBA games. It wasn’t until Kanter was traded the following season that Gobert got his first opportunity and he hasn’t left the starting lineup since. Even though he started only 37 games in the 2014-15 season, Gobert’s impact was undeniable, and he finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

In Gobert’s third season, he became the unquestioned starting center and was again the backbone to Utah’s defense. He ranked third in blocks per game and seventh in rebounds per game as the Jazz posted a top-10 defense. Gobert failed to even average 10 points per game in the 2015-16 season, but Utah knew he was a cornerstone of its team and had the work ethic to develop offensively. Thus, the Jazz signed him to a $102 million contract, which made him the highest-paid French athlete of all-time.

The offensive improvement from Gobert that the Jazz were hoping for came into fruition in the 2016-17 season. He added nearly five points to his scoring average and finished with a career-high of 14.0 points per game while also finishing second in the NBA in field-goal percentage. Gobert was also the anchor on the league’s third-best defense, as he led the league in blocks and finished fourth in rebounds. He helped lead the Jazz to the playoffs for the first time in five years, and the NBA awarded Gobert for his defensive efforts as he made the All-Defensive first-team.

There is optimism for even more improvement on the offensive end for Gobert, but not only is there optimism, there is a need as well. Utah lost Gordon Hayward in the offseason, and he led the team in scoring in each of the past four seasons. Gobert may never become the No. 1 option for a team, but if he continues to progress offensively as he did this past season, then he should make his first All-Star team in the 2017-18 campaign.