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SALT LAKE CITY — As Donovan Mitchell sat down next to Rudy Gobert following a recent shootaround, he heard Gobert say, “I just focus on winning — the rest will come.”
Mitchell didn’t need to hear anything else to know what his teammate was talking about. He has only played with Gobert for 1.5 seasons, but even he gets a little agitated when he sees just how much Gobert is undervalued in some pockets of the NBA.
“You’ve been overlooked for a while, bro,” Mitchell interrupted. “It’s complete BS.”
Even at 7-foot-1 with a standing reach that nearly goes all the way to the rim, Gobert can still feel overlooked. Yes, he won Defensive Player of the Year last season, but outside of Utah, his perceived value doesn’t quite match with what he does on the court.
“He’s been underrated, and I still think he’s underrated,” Mitchell said. "He should be in the All-Star conversation."
Gobert thinks he knows the reason why he isn't usually listed among the league's top big men, let alone the NBA's best. It’s not that he feels undervalued by his teammates or even by his peers throughout the league, it’s just that his game is a little harder to sell to mainstream audiences. Fans like Steph Curry 3-pointers, James Harden step-backs and Giannis Antetokounmpo rim-rocking dunks. Highlight tapes of Gobert setting screens don’t move the needle for casual viewers.
“At the end of the day, it's marketing,” Gobert told KSL.com. “Kids don’t care. They don’t want to buy a jersey of the guy who rebounds — they like crossovers, scoring. It is what it is, and it’s fine.”
Gobert is never going to have a top-selling jersey and his name likely won’t appear near the top of any type of All-Star fan voting lists (Gobert hasn’t even cracked the top 10 in Western Conference frontcourt player votes this season). The closest thing he’ll get to step-backs is wandering around after practice, firing up midrange shots (shots he hits at a decently high clip).
But that’s not who he is, either.
"It’s just by the mainstream media that take us for granted," Gobert said. "But the GMs, the coaches, the teams, they know what we bring the table."
And he brings a lot to the table. His defensive impact is obvious. Jazz coach Quin Snyder has built a system around him that has allowed Utah to become one of the league’s best on the defensive end since Gobert became a full-time starter midway through Snyder’s first year as head coach. This season is no different, with the Jazz being the NBA’s best defensive unit since Nov. 16.
But Gobert has never been satisfied by being elite at one thing. He spent the summer learning how to better assist the Jazz offense. That meant getting better footwork on screens, learning how and when to dribble handoff and figuring out the best way to roll out of picks.
“Alex (Jensen) dug in on it daily,” Snyder said. “It showed.”
Gobert leads the league in screen assists at 6.2 per game and in dunks with 162 on the season. He recently had 8 assists in a win over Chicago.
“I think it shows Rudy’s selflessness and it’s a good thing,” Snyder said. “He’s growing offensively.”
Snyder didn’t shy away from the fact that a lot of times plays designed for Kyle Korver are, in reality, plays for Rudy Gobert. Korver might get the shot, but the reason it's open is because Gobert is willing to set screen after screen. And that fact isn’t lost on Korver, either.
“Man, I'll tell you what. Rudy takes so much pride in setting great screens,” Korver said. “It’s unique; it’s rare to find a big man who is like, ‘I’m going to set screens all night long, and then I’m to going roll all night long.’ It’s hard work. You have to be in great shape to screen and roll, to screen and roll, to protect the rim and to run the court. I’ve been really impressed with him and how he takes care of his body and his mind. He takes this really seriously. And that’s what all the great players do.”
Gobert ranks among the league’s best in nearly every advanced metric. According to Basketball-Reference, he’s second in the league in win shares and eighth in the league in box plus/minus. ESPN’s Real Plus/minus has him at 13th in the NBA.
That doesn’t mean Gobert is destined to make his first All-Star game, though. The West is loaded with frontcourt players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis and Paul George, along with plenty others all being able to make a case for All-Star inclusion.
Gobert is used to not being mentioned in the same group as those players. So even though he feels he belongs in the conversation among the league’s best, he’s content with accomplishing something else: winning.
“We have all the advanced stats, and you are able to see it more,” Gobert said. “It’s frustrating for the guys who do all the dirty work. But at the end of the day, those guys get rewarded by winning and helping the team. I’m happy with what I do. It doesn’t change my motivation.”
