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SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert covered his eyes and leaned against the wall — the emotions of the moment overcoming him.
“Sorry,” he said to the assembled media as he tried to compose himself.
But it was too much. The frustration of being overlooked — again; the feeling of being undervalued; the memory of his mother calling him and crying after learning her son hadn’t been named an All-Star.
With tears in his eyes, Gobert had to walk away.
There were times Thursday night, Gobert wanted to say something. He was surprised and disappointed by the All-Star reserves selections, and he even grabbed his phone a few times and drafted some tweets. Tweets he never sent.
“I don’t think it was necessary,” Gobert said.
The people around him knew he should have been included — his coaches, his teammates, the Jazz organization and especially each and every Jazz fan. Those are the ones that see his unique impact and understand his value.
Gobert was snubbed. There’s really no way around it. His traditional stats are up across the board and the advanced stats love him. Gobert ranks first in win shares and is in the top 10 in box plus/minus — he's the only player in the top 10 who is not an All-Star.
He’s the NBA’s most feared rim protector and arguably the league’s best defender. And yet, he wasn’t selected.
“All the kids watching, you are telling them that defense doesn’t matter; that winning doesn’t matter.” pic.twitter.com/ee9dttkYYD
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) February 1, 2019
“I think it’s disrespectful,” Gobert said. “I feel disrespected. Disrespectful, not only towards me but towards the team, the organization and towards the game. All the coaches preach about defense. Every day they talk about defense; they talk about how important it is to win basketball games. When it’s time to vote, they aren’t able to reward the best defensive player in the world.”
This isn’t the first time Gobert has felt passed over — but at least then he understood it. He was young and he still was building a name for himself. But as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year with an impactful, albeit not the most exciting, offensive game, he thought the time had come to be considered among the game's best.
“The first year, it was OK,” Gobert said. “I was 24, it was my first year I was playing well. I thought I had to make a name for myself, earn the respect. I won the Defensive Player of the Year — I should have two, by the way — All-NBA second-team, and they still don’t give the respect.”
Gobert knows that his best skills aren’t the most enticing for fans. Screen assists and being able to guard two players at once on pick-and-rolls don’t get crowds buzzing like crossovers and 3-pointers — but they still make him one of the best players in the league. That was the recognition he wanted.
"It’s frustrating," Gobert said. "Not only for me but for all the kids and the game in general. All the kids that are watching you are basically telling them that defense doesn't matter that winning doesn’t matter. I don’t think it’s great for the future of the league."
Near the tail end of Gobert’s nearly eight-minute-long media availability, he brought up how his mother called him crying after hearing he wasn’t selected. That started to bring the emotions out of Gobert. His voice gradually started cracking and his eyes started to tear up. He wanted this, his mother wanted this, his team wanted this for him.
“It’s my legacy. I don’t play for money — I don’t even care about that — it’s just about my legacy,” Gobert said.
When asked if being an injury replacement for the game would help ease some of the disappointed feelings, Gobert answered: "I mean that would be good, but it’s still not the same as being selected."
