Jazz center Gobert should be All-Star
One of the best players in the league might be an All-Star snub again this season. This must stop.
“Two words for you: Rudy Gobert,” Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the Jazz’s center made light work of Jarrett Allen, who is averaging career-highs for the Nets.
In 25 minutes during Tuesday’s Nets-Jazz game, Allen finished with just eight points and two boards. Gobert out-rebounded him by 16.
“Best defensive center in the game,” Atkinson said. “He’s pushing himself into the all-time greats.”
Gobert is averaging almost 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks per game this season. He is one of only two players (Hassan Whiteside is the other) to average at least 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks per game over the past four seasons.
Yet, while Gobert has contributed an estimated 43 wins to the Jazz during that stretch, his impact has never been validated with an All-Star nod. The time to change that is (and always has been) right now — but it probably still won’t happen.
Utah ranks eighth in defensive efficiency this season. In the three seasons prior, they’ve never finished lower than third in the NBA in defense. Gobert has always been the key to this success. He is the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year two seasons in a row.
The Jazz have out-scored their opponents an average of 15 points for every 100 possessions he’s on the floor this season. If he doesn’t win it again, it’s because of voter fatigue — or another defensive menace on the Los Angeles Lakers.
“If you don’t meet Rudy with aggressiveness and you’re kinda thinking about it or hesitating a little, he’s gonna block you out, he’s gonna block your shot,” Atkinson said.
Gobert has had this impact on the Jazz in each of the past four seasons, yet he’s never been voted an All-Star — not a starter, chosen by the fans, his peers and the media; and surprisingly, not a reserve, an honor selected by NBA head coaches.
Last year, the Frenchman shed a tear in frustration of the voting process.
“I think it’s disrespectful. I mean, I feel disrespected,” Gobert said after he was snubbed from the 2019 NBA All-Star Game. “It’s my legacy. I don’t even play for money.
I don’t care about that.”
No more tears in 2020. It’s time to make Gobert an All-Star.
He won’t be a starter: Gobert did not receive enough fan votes to rank in the top-10 of Western Conference front-court players and was out-voted by the likes of KarlAnthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Brandon Ingram and Carmelo Anthony.
That means the onus falls on head coaches to make sure it happens this season. It sure seems Gobert has earned Atkinson’s vote. The Nets’ head coach couldn’t stop gushing over the French center, and not all the praise was for his impact on the defensive end.
“Everyone talks about his defense, I think he’s improved tremendously offensively, too. He’s become a better player,” said Atkinson, who then used a football reference to explain Gobert’s importance. “What gets undervalued with him is how well he screens. They have four skilled perimeter players. He’s the tackle, or the guard, knocking the heck out of you so his other guys get shots. That’s a true sign of an unselfish player.”
Those are called screen assists, and Gobert not only leads the league in them, but points generated from them. He had 10 against the Nets which created 23 points for Jazz scorers.
The issue with Gobert’s All-Star campaign is not Gobert himself.
Donovan Mitchell has been the more exciting Jazz player to watch, and he’s averaging a career-best 24 points per game. Even as fantastic as Mitchell has been, he hasn’t received more fan votes than Lakers reserve, Alex Caruso.
Utah has been excellent this season, winning 15 of their last 16 games. But so has every other team that calls itself a contender out West — and every contender wants to send two players to the All-Star Game.
The Jazz haven’t done that this century. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer never went the same season. In Salt Lake City, two players haven’t gone to the All-Star Game since John Stockton and Karl Malone. Once upon a time, they sent three, when Mark Eaton won Defensive Player of the Year and Malone won All-Star MVP in 1989.
This season’s Jazz has one of the best records in the West, and it’s been Gobert’s presence that has put them in this position.
That presence hasn’t been enough to earn an All-Star nod yet. Let 2020 be a year of change.