Rudy Gobert was initially at a loss for words after finding out he was left off of the Western Conference All-Star team. He noted that his mother called him crying, knowing how hard he had worked to play at an elite caliber. The Utah Jazz center also missed out on a potential $1 million bonus by failing to get selected to the mid-February festivities.
The 7-foot-1 French center cried when initially asked about his All-Star snub, causing laughter and jokes from the Golden State Warriors duo of Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green.
“I think it’s disrespectful,” said Gobert, according to Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. “All the coaches preach about defense, every day they talk about defense, about what an honor it is to get stops, to win basketball games; and when it’s time to vote, they’re not able to reward the best defensive player in the game.”
Gobert's rant would not end there, however — bringing his snub to astronomical levels.
“A lot of kids that are watching — you’re telling them that defense doesn’t matter, that winning doesn’t matter… Defense doesn’t sell as much as offense, it’s a business. It’s fine. But the game is still about competition, it’s about winning… you still gotta keep that.
The West is stacked with talent, and other bigs like Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Aldridge got the nod over Gobert.
It can be argued that Aldridge could have been replaced by Gobert, but the other three big men have far better numbers and all-around impact in propelling their team.
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