Rudy Gobert fires back at his peers for voting him 'overrated'

Rudy Gobert is tired of the slander.

The Timberwolves center was voted the "most overrated player" in the NBA by 81 anonymous players who partook in a poll conducted by The Athletic. Gobert was given the dubious honor over fellow "overrated" players such as Wizards guard Jordan Poole and Hawks guard Trae Young.

In a recent interview with ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Gobert tried to dissect why so many of his peers don't respect him the way a soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year ought to be.

"In their eyes, I'm more like the odd guy from France that's winning a lot of awards, and it can bother people," Gobert said. "I impact the games in a very unique way. It's maybe not as cool or not as flashy as some other guys, so it's sometimes harder for them to respect that."

"I just think I'm just mostly misunderstood. I think I trigger a lot of these guys."

Besides his current peers in the NBA, several former players such as Shaquille O'Neal and DeMarcus Cousins have also been critical of Gobert's impact as a defender. Earlier this year, O'Neal went as far as to say that he'd be making "Rudy Gobert money" if he played at age 42.

Gobert said the criticism does not bother him and he views it as "a form of respect" more than anything. The Frenchman also feels most people hate him because it's cool to do so. 

"Most people are followers. They just follow what's the common trend. What's the common thing to laugh about? Now, unfortunately in this generation, it's more about how much attention it is going to bring more than about the truth behind it. ... So, yeah, I'm OK with living with that now."

On Tuesday night, Gobert did not resemble "the most overrated player" in the NBA as he played stifling defense in Minnesota's 105-93 win over Phoenix. The win gave Gobert's Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs.