Rudy Gobert questions Utah Jazz teammates’ competitiveness
By John Buhler
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was not thrilled about how his team looked against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, citing a lack of competitiveness.
It’s natural for NBA teams to become more chippy as the regular season draws to a close and the NBA Playoffs approach. However, who would have thought we’d get an angry post-game interview from the Utah Jazz? Well, that is the case, as center Rudy Gobert went off on his teammates after Saturday’s tough loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gobert wouldn’t name names, but he went after the overall competitiveness of his team. Utah has lost four of five and Gobert had the following to say about it, “We’ve got some guys that compete, but some of us don’t compete. Some of us just think about scoring.”
Frustrations are clearly boiling over for the Salt Lake City professional basketball club. While this is the best season of Jazz basketball since the Jerry Sloan era, Utah might be poised for a unsatisfying first-round exit from the Western Conference Playoffs.
See this loss to the Clippers was especially painful for the Jazz for two reasons: 1.) Los Angeles has been out of sorts as well in the last few weeks. The Clippers aren’t handling the immense pressure of playoff expectations well down the stretch. 2.) That being said, Los Angeles has owned Utah this season. This looks to be the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series in the Western Conference Playoffs. Los Angeles would have home-court advantage.
One might read between the lines to think that Gobert was criticizing Utah’s best player in All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Gobert defended Hayward who had to exit the game with the Clippers early do to injury.
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From the looks of it, Gobert is being assertive in taking a leadership role with this young team. How Utah’s supporting cast plays down the stretch will decide how the Jazz go in the playoffs.