Draymond Green and Charles Barkley mock Rudy Gobert for crying over the All-Star snub from 2019
Being named an NBA All-Star is one of the most prestigious achievements any player can get. Getting selected amongst the cream of the crop in the best league in the world is an impressive feat, but with only 24 spots available every year, a few deserving players get snubbed. That's just the harsh reality of the NBA. Those players usually use that as fuel and come back even better next year to prove everybody wrong. But sometimes, players take it hard and get emotional, like Rudy Gobert in 2019. After getting his third straight nod, last night, Rudy ended up on the mocking side with Draymond and Charles roasting the Jazz center.
Emotional press conference
Rudy Gobert was far from the most coveted player when he was drafted, but over the years, the French big man has slowly built his reputation and established himself as possibly the best defensive player in the game. It took some time, but now everybody knows Gobert's value. So when the 2019 All-Star teams got announced, and Rudy got left out, a lot of people thought he was snubbed.
Gobert was amongst those people, as he took that hard and poured out his heart in a press conference: "There was a chance I might not make it, I was surprised. I think it's disrespectful, I feel disrespected. It's my legacy. I don't even play for money I don't care about that, to be honest. It's just about my legacy. It was a rough night. My mom called me crying, it was tough but it is what it is. It's always gone be that way..." " rel="noreferrer noopener">Gobert told reporters.
It was hard not to feel sorry for the French center, but he took it as motivation, upped his game, and became a perennial All-Star with three consecutive nods after last night's announcement. Now he is a 3x All-Star, 3x DPOY, 5x All-Defensive, and 3x All-NBA player at only 29 years old.
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Charles and Draymond have a laugh at Rudy's expense
Last night on TNT, the 2022 All-Star reserves were announced by the classic crew of Ernie, Kenny, Charles, and Shaq, along with their newest colleague Draymond Green joining them from the Bay to share his thoughts. It was hilarious as always, but one moment cracked up everyone.
Kenny was instigating as always and wondering who is the player to take the news of not getting selected the hardest. Draymond had a quick answer:
"One thing I can assure you if I didn't make it this year I wasn't gonna cry. I can 100% assure you of that. It has to be Rudy, I mean the man cried on national television when he didn't make the All-Star team. Thank God he's made the next three. You can't cry, Chuck. I said it then, I'm gonna say it now. I got killed on Twitter then, I'll probably get killed on it today. You can't cry, c'mon."
Draymond Green, ">NBA On TNT
Charles, in his style, had to add a few unique and hilarious comments:
"Stop it, Dray. Leave that man alone. The guy's French. He's sensitive. He's a lover. There's no mean streets in Paris."
Charles Barkley, ">NBA On TNT
Gobert has had that soft label on him despite being one of the best defensive anchors in the game, and guys are not letting him live down that emotional moment. We know Draymond and Gobert have some light beef as they are battling each other for the DPOY award year in and year out. There is mutual respect, but Dray took the opportunity to clown the Jazz center a bit, and Charles, of course, didn't miss out on cracking a couple of jokes. Classic stuff from the Inside the NBA crew.