Rudy Gobert doesn’t get enough credit for his toughness after what he has been through, revealed in his tell-all piece with The Players Tribune about the difficult circumstances early on in his life.
In his essay published on Monday, the Minnesota Timberwolves center detailed the racism he experienced when he was still a child because his mother, who is white, had relatives who didn’t want a mixed-race kid in their household.
“After I was born, certain relatives made it very clear to her that she wasn’t welcome to come to Christmas dinner if she brought me along,” Gobert wrote. “She could come on her own. But she couldn’t bring ‘that child.’ She couldn’t bring Rudy.”
“She was devastated. And obviously, she spent Christmas with me instead. She told them, ‘If that’s the way you think, then you’re not going to see me anymore. Not at Christmas. Not ever. I don’t want anything to do with you,'” he added.
Rudy Gobert also praised his mother for all the sacrifices she has made for him to get to where he is now. And since they didn’t have much growing up, that motivated Rudy Gobert to excel at basketball from a young age.
“I used to get every magazine I could get my hands on. Remember those posters in the middle of every issue? I’d tear them out and tape them to my bedroom wall. I would close my eyes and imagine myself on an NBA floor — dunking the ball, guarding legends like Kobe, Tony, Dirk, STAT…this was the place I would go to,” detailed Gobert.
Rudy Gobert for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season
Rudy Gobert is coming off a decent campaign by his lofty standards, averaging 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game on 66.1 percent shooting from the floor in 76 regular-season games.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are the third seed in the Western Conference, in large part because of Rudy Gobert’s impact on the defensive end of the floor, making him a viable candidate for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
As Minnesota Timberwolves gear up for the Phoenix Suns in the first round, it’ll be interesting to see how the Frenchman will make his impact given his struggles in the past.
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