Player Bio

Rudy Gobert was born in Saint-Quentin, France in 1992. Gobert's father, Rudy Bourgarel, played basketball at Marist College and drew NBA interest after his university days. He was forced to return to France due to a commitment to the French National Team, but his son has since fulfilled the family's NBA quest. Gobert caught the basketball bug when he was 12 years old and started playing for clubs in his hometown of Saint-Quentin. Gobert started playing professional basketball at Cholet Basket in 2011, spending two years there before entering the NBA Draft. In his final season in France, Gobert averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Since entering the NBA, Gobert has been active in a number of charitable causes, most recently donating $500,000 to support part-time workers at Salt Lake City's Vivint Smart Home Arena and help fund coronavirus relief efforts in Utah and Oklahoma City. Gobert often brings summer basketball camp MVPs to Utah to visit and attend Jazz games during the season, working to spread the love of basketball to youths in the Salt Lake area. You can follow Gobert on Twitter and Instagram (@Rudygobert27). Gobert's basketball talent was identified early on, as he played in the FIBA Under-18 Championships for France, where he was the team's top scorer and rebounder. He went on to play with Cholet Basket of the French LNB Pro A league, where he was named the Best Blocker and also was named to the league's All-Star team reserves in the 2012-13 season. He led the French Jeep Elite in the 2012-13 season in blocks per game (1.8) and was second in the league in total blocks (48). Gobert declared for the 2013 NBA Draft, with the date landing a day after his 21st birthday. He was selected in the first round (27th overall) by the Denver Nuggets and was traded later that night to the Utah Jazz.