NBA Players Will Never Pass Up A Chance To Hate On Rudy Gobert, Voting Him The Overwhelming Favorite For "Most Overrated" Player In The League
Stephen Maturen. Getty Images.One of the more fascinating storylines in the NBA has to be that nobody seems to respect what Rudy Gobert does on a basketball court. We know about his beef with Draymond, we all remember that time he punched his own teammate during a game, but in terms of what he does on a basketball court, I think the sample is large enough to suggest he's a pretty impactful player, especially defensively.
And yet, no matter what he does, the narrative is the narrative when it comes to Gobert's standing among his NBA peers
I'm sorry, but as a guy who is about to win another DPOY for a team that's had the #1 defense all year and just won 50 games, this feels a little personal. When nearly 2x the players think Gobert is a more overrated player than Jordan Poole and Trae Young, you have to think there's not too many basketball reasons at play. I was curious what things looked like last year during this anonymous vote, and the numbers weren't even close
Going from 5.6% of players to 13.6% in a DPOY season is pretty insane, but also not surprising. I don't want to come off as some sort of Rudy Gobert stan, but it's pretty obvious everyone hates his guts and thinks he stinks, despite what he does on the floor. Maybe it's the covid stuff, maybe it's that NBA players don't really understand his value, but as someone who watches a lot of NBA basketball, I can't say that Rudy Gobert is the far and away most overrated player in the league. That feels a tad excessive.
If anything, I could make the argument that Rudy Gobert is actually underrated compared to how he's talked about. Remember all that talk about how bad his contract was, or the fact that the double big lineup would never work in MIN? Well, things to be going OK at the moment, largely due to the defensive impact from Gobert. Whenever I see polls like this and then you watch a Wolves game and no opposing player wants to even consider challenging Gobert at the rim or in the paint, I'm always confused. If he's so overrated, why are so many players afraid to challenge him?
In reality, it feels like this is just a chance for players to hide behind being "anonymous" so they can shit on a player publicly while deep down knowing they want no part of him at the rim. That's kind of lame when you think about it that way. Say what you want about Draymond, but at least he says it with his chest. He doesn't hide behind being "anonymous" to hate on Rudy Gobert.
The whole thing is fascinating. Normally when you hear all this talk about a guy being overrated, it's not someone who is a 3x All Star, 4x All NBA, 6x (soon to be 7x) All NBA defender, and a 3x (soon to be 4x) DPOY. Maybe, Gobert is actually good? Sure he has his flaws like anyone else, but at some point the proof is in the pudding. You can't be as bad as his narrative seems to be and have all those accolades. Why it's hard for people to give Gobert credit is odd, but that's also what is going to make this playoff run so fun to watch. If he's so overrated, then why did the Suns allow him to have 14/16 in their blowout win? Surely they should be able to dominate him off the floor right?
Sadly, it doesn't really matter what Gobert does. The narrative is set, and it's abundantly clear that NBA players will never pass up an opportunity to discredit and throw shade at Rudy Gobert. Even if it's as ridiculous as suggesting he's the overwhelming favorite for the most overrated player in the league. That's just trying too hard in my opinion.
