Citing Kobe Bryant’s Daughter Gianna’s Birth As An Example, Gilbert Arenas Doubles Down On His Rudy Gobert Take

No NBA player is having a more blessed month than Rudy Gobert at the moment. Apart from the Minnesota Timberwolves being 2 wins away from clinching a spot in the Western Conference Finals, the Frenchman won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. Amidst all this success on the court, the Frenchman was also blessed with a baby boy very recently. However, despite it being a joyous occasion, analysts such as Gilbert Arenas are ripping Gobert apart for missing Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinal.

Insinuating that Rudy Gobert gave up on his team for something he could have avoided, the former NBA All-Star said,

“It’s a baby bro. It’s gon be there when you get back. We hoping. I mean, I’m just saying…Whatever you think you about to do with the baby, it’s going to be asleep…I get that you wanna be with your wife and smile and stuff and you’re good; NBA healthcare and insurance, it’s because of you playing.”

In the latest episode of Nightcap, the three former athletes dove deep into Gobert’s decision to miss Game 2. It is here, that Arenas chose to double down on his statement, and even brought on the case of Kobe Bryant to try and prove his point.

“[In the 2006 Western Conference Finals] Kobe, he’s in Phoenix. He had to come, see his child be born, hop back on the plane, and go back to Phoenix… We’re used to doing both. I’ve never heard one person just saying ‘oh yeah, he had a baby here see y’all tomorrow’. Our obligation is to do both,” Arenas claimed.

Shannon Sharpe shockingly seemed to agree with his co-panellist. The ESPN analyst simply put that certain players don’t always need to prioritize family first.

“I saw a lot of guys that play professional sports and talking about ‘I ain’t missing that (birth of child)’. I said ‘so, are you at every recital? Are you at every parent-teacher conference? Are you at every football game? Are you at every basketball game?’ If family is first, family should always be first. Y’all pick it and choose it because you want to be big ‘I will be there for my wife’,” Sharpe claimed.

To be fair, Rudy Gobert’s child was reportedly born merely a few hours before the game tipped off. Even if he tried to, there could have been a possibility that he wouldn’t end up reaching the arena in time.

Further, there is no question that there are certain which are bigger than basketball. The center shouldn’t have to justify his action on this action, and instead, share in his family’s happiness. Fortunately, that is exactly what he seems to be doing.

Rudy Gobert speaks about the day his son was born

Rudy Gobert won the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year award recently. But from what his comments from the press conference suggested, the 31-year-old was understandably more excited about the birth of his newborn. During the conference, Gobert reflected on 6^th May (the day his son was born).

“It was incredible,” Gobert said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I was exhausted, obviously, holding the baby and watching the game at the same time, but I had a little bit of emotions at the end because it felt like there was something special.”

Purely from the perspective of basketball, Gobert’s absence was always going to be a massive gap to fill, especially on the defensive end. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves came together and eventually clobbered the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 (106-80).

 

‘The Stifle Tower’ is expected to suit up for Game 3 tonight. Additionally, with the contest taking place at the Target Center, the three-time All-Star can also expect to receive an outpour of support from the home crowd amidst all the noise surrounding his name.