Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had an interesting way of contextualizing criticism from those, like Shaquille O'Neal, who believe he did not deserve the $205 million contract he signed with Utah in December.
Gobert said during an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic he believes strong play lends itself to criticism. The Stifle Tower cited LeBron James as someone who is incredibly accomplished, but has also endured seemingly endless scrutiny throughout his career:
“And obviously the better you get, the more people talk and the more people are either going to praise you or adopt you or criticize you, so I kind of started to embrace it and take every kind of criticism as, in a way, a compliment,” Gobert said, via Amick. “I mean, look at LeBron. He was actually the most criticized player of our generation, and he’s the one who has accomplished the most, so I would say when you start playing well, you’re going to have a lot of people criticize you and people praising you. But you can’t let that affect you.”
It should be noted much of the criticism of LeBron stems from his initial decision to join the Miami Heat and embrace a villain role, of sorts. Shaq and others have hinted Gobert does not deserve the money based on production.
But the reality is, Gobert holds the Jazz together on both ends of the floor. He is averaging 2.7 blocks per game and ranks in the top three in defensive rating and Defensive Win Shares. Gobert's rim-running also helps Utah's offense, and he is averaging close to four offensive rebounds per game.
Gobert is not too concerned with the criticisms, anyway. The Jazz (16-5) have the best record in the NBA after Tuesday's win over the Detroit Pistons, and Gobert is vital to the team's success.
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