Rudy Gobert Sends Message to Jazz Ahead of SLC Return
Rudy Gobert is returning to Salt Lake City on Friday night in what may be the most anticipated homecoming in Utah Jazz history.
Although Utah is the party that decided to move on from Gobert, there are no hard feelings from the 7-foot-2 Frenchman, who was acquired by the Jazz via trade after being taken with the 27th pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets.
Gobert shared his thoughts on his first time back to Vivint Arena with NBA insider Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
"I spent nine years of my life there and created a lot of memories, have a lot of very powerful relationships with people that I love and gave me a lot of love over the years," Gobert told MacMahon. “It's going to be weird to walk into the arena and go to the visitor's locker room, but it's going to be probably a lot of love and a lot of joy to come back."
Gobert also touched on the current Jazz team and their unexpected fast start.
"I've been very happy to see them having success," Gobert said. "Most people kind of counted them out after trading me and Donovan, and Bojan, too, but there's still a lot of talent on this team. You can tell that they're having a lot of fun, and also when you don't have a lot of expectations, you kind of play free. I think that's what's been happening for them. They play together, they play free, they play really hard. When you play that way with the level of talent they have, good things happen."
It hasn't been all love in past Jazz homecomings. Recently, Deron Williams and Gordon Hayward were treated as villains while being booed every time they touched the ball. But on Friday night, there will be standing ovations for Gobert, whose jersey most likely will be hanging in the Vivint Arena rafters one day.
But when the rubber needs the road, Gobert will be out to prove that it was the Minnesota Timberwolves that made the right decision in mortgaging their future for his services. The jury is still out, but the early returns favor the Jazz in what has the potential to be one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.
The Jazz are 1.5 games ahead of their trade partner going into Friday night and if Utah beats out the Timberwolves for a playoff spot, Gobert will likely shoulder most of the blame.
One factor in the Jazz getting the better end of the stick in the early goings is the emergence of rookie center Walker Kessler. The former SEC Defensive Player of the Year was acquired in the Gobert trade and ranks sixth in the league in block shots per game while only averaging 16 minutes per contest.
Kessler made his first start of the season in Utah's win over the Golden State Warriors, and we’ll see how much time he’ll share with Gobert on the court on Friday night.
Tip-off is at 7:00 pm MDT.
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