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Haessig Pierre 2 News (DR)
By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
Jazz player for almost ten years, Rudy Gobert has marked the story, in the same way as the controversial legend Karl Malone before him. He also had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the latter in Utah and strongly remembers their first meeting.
27th Choice of the 2013 Draft, he was almost inconvenient in the United States upon his arrival in NBA. Unsurprisingly, Rudy Gobert So had to whip to make a place in the rotation of Utah. His efforts ended up paying and allowed him to obtain the statutes of holder, then of the star of the franchise. In nine years within him, he even had time to write its story, as Karl Malone did before him.
Rudy Gobert traces his first meeting with Karl Malone
A member of one of the most iconic duos in the league with John Stockton, Malone has above all made the minds of the fans thanks to his prowess on the prosecution. Some observers nevertheless keep a negative image of him taking into account the judicial scandal which pursues it. Gobert, he hadn't apparently heard before landing in jazz, evidenced by his shared words in The Players’ Tribune :
Rudy Gobert : Before arriving in Utah, everything I knew about the United States came from television or films. And I do not believe that one of the series or one of the films I could see had any relation to Utah, so I had no idea what to expect when he landed on the spot. The only thing I knew about the state of Utah is that this is where Karl Malone had played.
It is therefore seem to be without the A-Priori world that the French pivot meets its predecessor once integrated into the team. Meeting during which the physique of the one who was then already fifty -something had breathtaking him:
Rudy Gobert : The first time I met Karl was during training during my rookie season.
With me, he was very kind and encouraging. He told me he was looking forward to seeing what I could bring to jazz. We talked about Big Men stuff and he offered to do some exercises with me. His robustness on these exercises shocked me.
As for him still relatively frail at that time, Rudy therefore had a hard time resisting his elder in the racket. What push him to transform into an outstanding defender:
Rudy Gobert : When I think about it, I just remember his forearm. I defended him at the post and he put his forearm on me. He was a rock. It must have been the strongest man I had ever seen in my life. And he was 50 years old. The strength with which he had to play in his bonus … I can't imagine it. In any case, it pushed me to want to become a better defender.
Far from the extra-sports controversy surrounding Karl Malone, Rudy Gobert met him very early in his NBA career. An episode that would have deeply impacted his career in the League, since he would have motivated him to become the illustrious defender that he is today.
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