Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert is the betting favorite to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award this season.
The defensive anchor for the surprising T-Wolves squad that finished (56-26) and the No. 3 seed in the very competitive Western Conference, Gobert would join Hall of Famers Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace who both won the award a league-record four times each.
While Gobert’s basketball career has been stellar since he arrived from France in 2013, growing up the man known as “Stifel Tower” faced racism within his own family. Per Gobert in a letter to The Players’ Tribune, he was told by his mom and other family that he wasn’t accepted as a child because he was born to a white mom and black father. In the letter Gobert details a myriad of things told to him by his mom, and none of it was pretty.
Gobert Opens Up On The Pain Caused
“It’s a painful memory, but one that I need to share,” Gobert mentioned in the piece about that landmark moment.
Gobert talked about how his mom and dad met while his dad, a Caribbean immigrant was playing basketball in France. In his mom’s family’s eyes having a baby with a black man was frowned upon, and they disowned her and Rudy for it. Gobert says a family member told him things went awry when the family didn’t want his mom to bring him to a Christmas dinner.
“We don’t want that baby in our house,” an alleged family member told Rudy’s mom.
The family’s racist ways forced Rudy’s mom to choose, and she most definitely chose her son. Although it hurt her to the core, she had to be was her son, and she was responsible for his well-being.
“She was devastated,” Gobert wrote. “And obviously, she spent Christmas with me instead. She told them, ‘If that’s the way you think, then you’re not going to see me anymore. Not at Christmas. Not ever. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Like any parent, Gobert’s mom made sure to protect him from those who may attempt to cause harm.
Mom’s Love And Motivation Is Why Gobert Is In The NBA
In the past Gobert has gone on record talking about his upbringing in France, and how it wasn’t easy on his mom. In this piece he mentioned that no matter what they may have lacked she always made up for in how she motivated him to be great. His mom told him to never stop dreaming and to chase those dreams, telling him this.
“Go after your dreams. I’ll be fine.”
That’s all Gobert, who fell in love with be game of basketball at the age of 12 needed to hear. He used that to put himself in position to be a first-round pick in the 2013 NBA draft. In fact Gobert just finished year three of his monstrous five-year, $205 million deal signed in 2021.
Bet you the family is regretting disowning him now. Took a lot of courage on Gobert’s part to tell this story, and it goes to show you that racism is still alive and kicking even amongst families.
