Shaq had scoffed at the idea of Rudy Gobert being worthy of a contract worth $205 million. NBA fans are now realizing exactly why.
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Rudy Gobert signing a supermax contract with Utah Jazz was a big deal back in the offseason. This was the first time that a bonafide big man was getting a contract extension worth so much money.
It was generally accepted across the NBA community that as a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert was going to go in heavy in his contract negotiations. It was quite obvious that the Jazz wouldn’t give up on a homegrown talent without offering him the supermax.
NBA fans roast Rudy Gobert after Utah Jazz give up 79 points in a half
Shaq had gone on several different platforms to openly state his disdain at the size of Gobert’s contract. He was derided by everyone for being jealous of another man’s bag, though privately, most of us knew that he was probably right.
O’Neal was hardly the only one to criticize Utah for this move at the time. There were tons of NBA analysts who said that this deal meant the death knell for their title aspirations. We’re now starting to realize where they were coming from.
Over the past 3 postseasons, we’d accepted that it was a talent problem with Utah. But the mauling that they’ve received from the Clippers’ small-ball lineups in the last 4 games of the series is unforgivable.
No team with a DPOY on the roster should be conceding an ungodly 79 points in one half of basketball. Honestly, Rudy Gobert deserves every bit of roasting that he’s receiving for his play. The following are some of the better basketball-related roasts of the Stifle Tower:
Oh yeah Gobert just signed a 5 year – $205M contract… Shaq tried to tell y’all about this fraud
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) June 19, 2021
Over the final four games of the series, the Clippers had a 130.9 Offensive Rating … with Rudy Gobert on the floor.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) June 19, 2021
Watching players routinely drop 40 on the PG/Kawhi Clippers and mix up Gobert and have Ben Simmons lost on the PnR really got me thinking Draymond might actually be the best defensive player of this generation at least
— David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) June 19, 2021
They lost back to back games to a Kawhi-less Clippers…. Blew a 22 point half time lead….. their DPOY looked like a traffic cone…. pic.twitter.com/hfPRDYxVNm
— Mel (@Mel_Causidicus) June 19, 2021