Rudy Gobert has always felt misunderstood in the NBA, and he has pondered many possible reasons throughout the years. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year believes it mostly has to do with his unique personality, style of play, jealousy and cultural differences. He was recently voted by his peers as the best player in the league.
Asked by the media recently, he explained why it has become common for fans and NBA players to mock him. “In their eyes, I'm like a weird French guy who wins a lot of awards, and it's going to bother people,” the Timberwolves center said.
“I touch games in a different way. “Maybe he's not as cool or bright as other guys, so sometimes it's hard for them to respect that,” he said. “I just think that I am often misunderstood. I think I start a lot of these guys.”
NBA players voted Rudy Gobert as the greatest player of all time
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The Minnesota big man expressed why it's easy to get distracted by criticism. “We've been overwhelmed by everything that's been thrown at us,” he told ESPN. “Everything we hear, we watch, everything we see on the phone, we listen to. So sometimes we can't really be alone.”
However, the French star has given himself plenty of time to help build up his confidence. One of his most recent retreats came last summer, when he spent 64 hours alone in a cabin. “It was a very powerful thing,” Gobert said.
“It felt like a big reset and a dynamic testing ground. I was very grateful. I went back to all the things I've experienced so far, and all the things I've been through and all the great people I have around me. I realized that I was where I was supposed to be on my journey.
“When you're in the dark, it shows things inside you. When you are negative, you see negative things. And when you have hope, you see good things. So you realize that at the end of the day, you create your own reality,” he recalled of the experience.
Gobert delved into the reasons why he felt like an outsider since he was a little boy
According to the French agency, he always feels that he is misunderstood. Rudy comes from a biracial couple, and reveals that he constantly hears racial undertones while being raised by his white, single mother in France.
“It was difficult for my mother, because it was difficult for other people at home to accept that she had a child with a black person,” Gobert recalled in a recent interview. After his parent's divorce, his father, a former French basketball player, returned to his hometown of Saint-Quentin, in his hometown of Guadaloupe.
When their parents separated, Rudy admitted that his mother always took care of him and made sure he received a solid education. According to the veteran star, he owes a large part of his career to his mother.
So he cut ties with the rest of his family at that time to protect me. He always protected me, gave me the greatest education I had, and always supported me as I chased my dream. I will always be very grateful for that,” he said.
