Rudy Gobert: NBA, Net Worth & Girlfriend

While some believe that exemplary athletes are born, it is well-known that talent is meaningless without hard work.

Rudy Gobert is an exceptional player who has prospered for most of his life because of his excellent height and his excellent basketball talent.

He showed early on that he had a lot of potential to become the well-known player he is now.

Despite being a little unpolished, he is known for his diligence, tenacity, toughness, and incredible talent with a passion for competition.

All of his hard work has paid off, and he now has an outstanding NBA career. Gobert isn’t just a scorer or a defender; he’s also a leader, both with the Jazz and the French national team.

In both 2018 and 2019, the athlete was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He joins a select group of ten NBA players who have won the award at least twice with this achievement.

The athlete is also a member of the French national basketball team, where he was named Player of the Year in 2019. Rudy is unquestionably at the pinnacle of his career as he continues to break records and set new benchmarks.

 Quick Facts

Amateur Career

Gobert began playing basketball for the JSC St-Quentin club in 2003 before joining the Saint-Quentin BB club later that year.

The athlete joined Cholet Basket’s cadet categories training center in 2007, and 2010, he represented France at the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was named the team’s best scorer and rebounder.

Gobert mainly played for the Cholet Basket junior team from 2009 to 2011, with only one game for the senior team in 2010–11, when he had 6 points, five rebounds, one steal, and one block in 13 minutes against Pau-Lacq-Orthez on May 10, 2011.

During 29 games for Cholet in 2011–12, he averaged 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He averaged 5.4 rebounds and 8.4 points per game in 27 games the following season, 2012–13.

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Professional Career

Rudy Gobert announced the 2013 NBA Draft after an outstanding amateur career and was selected as the 27th overall selection by the NBA’s Denver Nuggets on June 27, 2013.

He was traded to the Utah Jazz on draft night and played in the 2013 NBA Summer League.

Rudy improved his game as the season progressed, finishing third in the NBA’s Best Player of the 2014-2015 Season award.

He set a career-high with 22 points in a 112-105 win over the Phoenix Suns the following year. Another highlight of his career came in 2017 when he had 27 points and 25 rebounds in a 112-107 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

In March 2017, he had another career-high with 35 points and 13 rebounds in a 108-101 win over the New York Knicks.

Rudy won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the third time in four years on June 9, 2021, making him the fourth player in NBA history to win three or more times.

His win marked the first time in NBA history that an international player has won awards for four consecutive defensive players of the year.

In a Game 2 second-round win over the Los Angeles Clippers on June 11, Gobert set a playoff career-high with 20 rebounds.

Rudy Gobert: Exterior Feature

Rudy has a standing reach of 9 feet 9 inches, which would make him a frightening opponent in the ring.

Gobert, ironically, has long been a fan of boxing and made headlines in 2018 when he posted a video on social media of himself doing a boxing workout to prepare for the season.

His basketball skills are well complemented by his physical characteristics, such as body size and height, which are essential factors that favor the best basketball players, aside from hard work, talent, and zeal for the game.

He plays the center position and stands 7 feet 1 inch tall with 7 feet 8 inches wingspan. Likewise, he weighs 117 kg. The basketball player is regarded as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA.

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Presence In Olympics 

Head coach Vincent Collet enlisted Gobert’s assistance in preparing the senior French national team for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

He scored 8 points in two friendly games. He was a member of the 2014 FIBA World Cup bronze-medal winning team, averaging 4.1 points per game.

Rudy Gobert was only 23 years old when he traveled to Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He’d just finished his second entire NBA season with the Utah Jazz, averaging less than ten points per game and less than eight defensive rebounds.

Gobert appeared in five games for France, averaging 5.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per appearance.

He also played in the 2019 FIBA World Cup for France, where he averaged 9.1 rebounds, 10.1 points, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game.

Gobert led France to a silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, starting all games averaging 9.3 rebounds and 12.2 points.

Injury

Rudy Gobert was ruled out of the game against the Sacramento Kings with a left foot strain in March.

Rudy also missed time earlier this season due to left shoulder inflammation, strained left calf, and a stint in the league’s health and safety protocols, among other injuries.

Gobert has been exceptional on both ends of the floor through 52 games this season. The nine-year veteran averages 15.4 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 71.2 percent from the field, which is a career-high.

According to Basketball-Reference, Gobert has been outstanding on both ends of the court this season, shooting a career-high 70.6% from the field and submitting a 99 defensive rating, his best since 2017-18.

Improvement & Progression

• Rudy Gobert is a dominant player on the court. Nearly all of his shooting percentages are at career highs, including a seven percent increase in free-throw rate from last season.
• He’s on a verse to become the first player in NBA history to average 15 points, 15 rebounds, and a field-goal percentage of more than 70%.
• Rudy Gobert has been outstanding in the 2021 NBA season, on offense, defense, and at home. If he maintains this level of play, he will have a season to remember.

Rudy Gobert: Early Life & Family

Gobert was born to Rudy Bourgarel and Corrine Gobert in Saint-Quentin.

When Rudy was about three years old, his parents divorced, and his father moved to Guadeloupe. 

Gobert stayed in Saint-Quentin with his mother, Corinne Gobert, where he faced challenges as a mixed-race child in France.

According to an NBA profile of Gobert, his mother, Corinne, worked as a hairdresser throughout his childhood while raising her three children as a single mother.

Since he was a child, Rudy Gobert, a Utah Jazz center, visited Guadeloupe, a French archipelago in the Caribbean.

Rudy Bourgarel, his father, lives there and keeps a close eye on his son’s career after his own NBA dreams were dashed years ago.

Gobert claims that his mother used to save enough money every three years to buy the family plane tickets to Guadeloupe to see his father and other relatives.

Comes From A Basketball Family

Rudy Bourgarel, Rudy Gobert’s father, played at Marist College from 1985 to 1988.

Rik Smits, the future No. 2 overall pick in the 1988 draft who spent his 12-year career with the Indiana Pacers, was Bourgarel’s teammate there.

In 1987-88, the 7-foot Bourgarel became a starter, averaging 10.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game while playing alongside Smits.

Bourgarel, on the other hand, was never drafted and spent a decade playing professional basketball in Europe.

Gobert claimed that his father, who made a cameo appearance in “Coming To America,” never pushed him to play basketball.

He also expressed his father’s pride in him playing in the NBA, a dream he had but never realized.

As sports analysts continue to point out, Rudy and his father have excellent physical characteristics, including good size, strength, length, and the ability to run the ground.

Rudy Gobert: Nickname

Gobert is known for his shot-blocking ability. But he’s perhaps best known for his NBA nickname, “Stifle Tower,” which he earned just a few weeks into his career.

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News coined the moniker in July of 2013, just two weeks after he was drafted.

Although he didn’t like the moniker at first (according to a Rolling Stone interview from 2014), he warmed up to it after a year.

In 2015, Gobert told NBA.com, “There are a lot of nicknames that are pretty cool.” “‘Stifle Tower’ is one of my favorites. ‘Gobzilla’ is one of my favorites.” 

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Rudy Gobert: Girlfriend 

The incredible basketball prodigy was linked with famous social media star and YouTuber Hannah Stocking who also happened to be the ex-girlfriend of basketball player Klay Thompson. 

During Rudy’s birthday celebrations, they were caught spending time together. Despite the fact that they didn’t say so, curious fans noticed a similarity between their Instagram stories.

For his birthday, the two spent time together in Utah, having fun in what appears to be an escape room.

However, there is no information if they still are dating. Moreover, the basketball player is currently focused on reaching the pinnacle of his career.

Net Worth

Rudy Gobert’s net worth is predicted to be $40 million by Celebrity Net Worth.

Gobert signed a four-year, $102 million contract extension with the Jazz in 2016 after initially signing a rookie-level contract with them.

He is currently Utah Jazz’s highest-paid player, and his earnings are expected to rise in the coming years.

The athlete was eligible for a supermax extension worth $23 million more, but he declined because he wanted to leave the money on the table so that the team could hire better talent like Donovan Mitchell.

Rudy Gobert is a Nike athlete who wears their Air Max Dominate line of shoes.

Car & House

Gobert has never mentioned his hot wheels, but we do know he drives a Range Rover Evoque, which he acquired after his teammates played a popcorn prank on him by filling his car to the brim with the snack.

The car’s price ranges from $42,000 to $50,000. Gobert owns a $3.9 million home in Salt Lake City in terms of his residence.

After signing with Jazz in 2016, he made the purchase. A pool, a game room, and a massive indoor basketball court are included in the 11,000 square feet.

Marketable Guy

The H-E-B grocery store chain in Texas is well-known for using San Antonio Spurs players in their commercials.

The Jazz has done the same with Vivint Smart Home, the stadium’s title sponsor (Vivint Smart Home Arena), and Gobert has been a breakout star in some of the commercials.

So far, he’s been “cloned,” impersonated Donovan Mitchell, discovered that he’s not the only one who can play defense, and demonstrated his vocal abilities.

Charity Work

Rudy Gobert is well-known and admired for his social activism. He supports charities that directly impact the lives of youth through education, recreation, community health, and community outreach programs through his Rudy’s Kids Foundation.

Rudy’s Kids Foundation also supports the Peacemakers Project in Rwanda, which is run by Peace and Sport and implemented by the Association of Kigali Women in Sports – AKWOS.

The foundation would donate $1,000 to selected charities for every blocked shot during games chosen — and not just in Utah.

In opposing cites from those performances, the Sacramento Children’s Home and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston were two of the recipients of Gobert’s public, a non-profit foundation.

Rudy’s Kids teamed up with 11 charities in seven NBA cities and Paris. Gobert is almost entirely responsible for the foundation’s funding.

Whatever happens with the trophy, Gobert knows that his charitable efforts have impacted many people’s lives.

Covid Controversy

According to the news, Rudy tested positive for Coronavirus on March 11, 2020. His positive test set off a chain reaction that resulted in the NBA season being suspended for the time being.

Rudy joked with reporters the day before his positive test became public, and he playfully checked all of the microphones placed in the press room.

Gobert was also accused of repeatedly touching players and their belongings in the locker room, which did not sit well with the players.

In retrospect, it appeared to be highly inept and unprofessional. Rudy made amends by donating $500,000 to charity.

Furthermore, he apologized for his actions by posting an apology statement on Instagram.

Awards & Achievements 

• 3× NBA All-Star (2020–2022)
• All-NBA Second Team (2017)
• NBA blocks leader (2017)
• French Player of the Year (2019)
• 3× All-NBA Third Team (2019–2021)
• 3× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2018, 2019, 2021)
• 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2017–2021)
• NBA rebounding leader (2022)

Social Media Presence 

Instagram– 719k followers 

Twitter– 579.3k followers 

Facebook– 401k followers 

FAQs

Is Rudy Gobert friends with Rihanna?

We don’t know whether they know each other or are close friends. But, Rudy has posted a picture of him with the rockstar on his Instagram account.

Rihanna was there in the City of Lights to inaugurate her Fenty Beauty pop-up store.

Is Rudy Gobert underrated?

Right now, Gobert is the most underappreciated player in the league. However, he’s a top-five MVP candidate by any objective measure.