Is it just me, or are people coming after Rudy Gobert more than usual?
Even though Gobert is the same caliber player that he was when he was awarded NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year three times, the hate towards the big man is getting louder and louder.
He hasn’t gotten worse at anything, and he is equally as dominant as when we all agreed that he was the best defensive player in the world. Still, folks maybe feel emboldened to get on their high horse after Gobert’s Utah Jazz were once again eliminated early in the postseason.
The latest and bravest to have the original idea of criticizing Gobert is Skip Bayless. The sports media personality was kind enough to take a break from obsessing over LeBron James to throw a cheap shot at Gobert.
Rudy Gobert says he would've "locked" Shaq up:
"Rudy, you are barking up the biggest, wrongest tree. Shaq was the most dominating offensive force in the history of this league." — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/082mkNdhdr
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 10, 2022
It is one thing for Shaquille O’Neal to criticize Gobert. O’Neal has four championship rings, and he knows what it takes to clash against the best players ever to play Gobert’s position. It’s another thing to hear that kind of bologna from Bayless.
Bayless’ take was fairly boring, considering we’re hearing the same sort of narrative about Gobert spewing out towards him from every direction, but it was also non-sensical.
The talking head called Gobert a “finesse defender” and I’m not sure why that is an insult, but it doesn’t feel as insulting as Bayless intended for it to be.
The Utah center caught wind of Bayless’ silly little rant, and he fired back on Twitter.
Only two people on this earth are allowed to talk to me that way @RealSkipBayless . And you’re not one of em. https://t.co/TGGfk2nAHe
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) May 11, 2022
Gobert said that only two people on Earth are allowed to talk to him this way, and Bayless is not one of them. In another tweet, he also wondered if people like that would speak to him if they were in the same room.
Would u speak to me that way if you were standing in front of me @RealSkipBayless ?🤔 I’m cool with the constant disrespect and opinions about who i am as a player and i CHOOSE to let these things slide but it seems like people are getting way to comfortable… https://t.co/YZ0wjwtuE3
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) May 11, 2022
I’d speculate that the answer to the question is a resounding nope, definitely not.
Gobert is 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-9 wingspan, and he is over a foot taller than Bayless. More likely than not, Bayless feels much more comfortable talking like that in front of a camera than he ever would in real life.
