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SALT LAKE CITY — A year ago, Rudy Gobert, sporting a red Santa hat, softly smiled as he slowly made his way around a room in the Utah Jazz practice and saw dozens of kids open Christmas presents provided by Gobert and his kids foundation.
Gobert couldn't play Santa in person this year, but that didn't mean there weren't gifts to be given.
Earlier this month, Gobert packed up three carloads full of coats, boots, gloves and toys and delivered them to Utah Community Action's Operation Chimney Drop. Gobert's contributions went toward helping 120 youth.
"One of the great things about Rudy was like he actually drove to our location, and he unloaded the clothing and the toys. He set everything up for us," Carla Frein of Utah Community Action said. "He was very interested in asking me questions about what we do, how many children we serve, how we make the holiday gift bags."
Gobert cares about the details. The Jazz All-Star center didn't grow up wealthy — far from it. He shared a two-bedroom apartment with his mom and his two older siblings and there was even a time the family had to go to a local charity to get gifts for Christmas.
That Christmas made a lasting impression on him — he even remembers the gift: a military lego set — and it has helped drive a desire to give back. He doesn't just want to hand out money, though, he wants to help create moments and memories. He wants to inspire.
"He is the most engaging, endearing, giant of a man with these kids," Rudy's Kids Foundation manager Lindsay Marriott said. "It's the most fun to watch. It's right in his element. He has a lot of fun. He's one on one. He's really sweet about just being involved and invested. And just he has genuine care and concern."
With COVID-19 limiting contact, those special moments have been harder to create. Still, Gobert has tried to give things a personal touch.
In May, Gobert donated $20,000 to "For The Kids" to help address food insecurity due to school closures. His donation provided meals for more than 250 families from five schools within the Salt Lake City School District. In normal years, Gobert would have taken the time to meet the kids and the families. While this has been far from a normal year, he still wanted to find a way to give things a personal touch.
He helped pack the meals and then had left a special surprise for the kids. Inside each of the packed lunches was a signed Rudy Gobert card.
"He's quiet about it; he doesn't need to have people post about it," Marriott said. "He'll just go down and do it and never have anyone know that he's gone in and actually and packed those boxes for those children. And then in addition added a little autographed card with some candy, just to let them know that he was thinking about them during the time. He always tried to make a little extra special effort if he can when he can't physically get to see them."
It's a way for Gobert to say thank you to a community he feels has embraced him ever since he came over as a wide-eyed young man from France. When the Jazz traded for him on draft night in 2013 he had never lived in the United State and he was self-conscious about his ability to speak English. But when he arrived in Utah, he felt an immediate connection.
"Whether it was when I was going to the grocery store or obviously people from the Jazz. I always felt like people were embracing me, and people were really happy to have me part of the community," Gobert said. "I didn't speak great English — I still don't speak great English — but I felt at home and my family always felt the same. There's always been respect; there's always been gratitude. I came here and felt at home right away."
It's his home. It's his community. He wants to help the people that made him feel welcome.
That's why Gobert donated $20,000 to Serve Refugees, an organization that supports the refugee community in Utah. The funds purchased backpacks filled with school supplies, COVID cleaning kits and computers for the families.
And that's why on a December day, he packed up three carloads of toys and clothes to donate to families in need. Families, who in some cases, had never needed it before.
"Some of the clients who receive these gifts are receiving services for the first time, they have never been in this situation before," Frein said.
It's a situation that Gobert knows first hand — that's why he'll keep on helping.
"I just wish people could see what we get to see every day — that he genuinely has this love and care and concern and really just wants to inspire and motivate in any way that he possibly can," Marriott said. "That's the legacy he wants to leave behind. He's a stellar basketball player, but he's an even more magnificent human."
