Rudy Gobert is, to put it kindly, not exactly known for his offensive skill. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year is a constant target of derision online and on television for his clumsiness with the ball and inability to create his own shot, to the point that in the first half of Game 7 of the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, “Get Rudy” (as in get him out of the game) was trending on Twitter.
Even Gobert himself is aware of this brand, as jumpers for him are so rare that he once compared hitting a three to losing his virginity.
But as much as Naz Reid’s fourth-quarter shotmaking and Anthony Edwards’ superstardom, Gobert’s defense and offensive rebounding were a huge part of the Timberwolves’ second-half comeback to beat the defending champs on Sunday night. However, perhaps no bucket was more backbreaking for Denver than Gobert’s jumper with just under eight minutes remaining.
Facing a shot clock that was about to expire after catching a desperation inbounds to avoid a five-second violation, Gobert drove baseline and then spun back the other way to hit a shot that it’s probably not an overstatement to call both the biggest and most skilled bucket he’s ever hit in his career when considering the circumstances:
From Wolves backup Luka Garza reacting as though he just witnessed God, to Nikola Jokic nearly grabbing his head in disbelief before composing himself, the clip is just incredible.
That jumper was such a rare display of touch from the big Frenchman that even the NBA’s official account almost appeared to be in shock when tweeting out the highlight:
That bucket only put the Wolves up by four points, but in the moment it felt like the momentum shifting irreversibly towards Minnesota, and like it would be backbreaking for Denver. I mean, if you already blew a 20-point lead in a Game 7 and then a guy who has a career shooting percentage — and this is not a joke — of 22.2% from 10-16 feet hits that? It would be hard not to feel like the game was over. Even Anthony Edwards admitted as much:
Anthony Edwards: “When Rudy hit the turnaround I was like, yeah, we probably got ‘em.”
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) May 20, 2024
The ultimate comeback for a 98-90 win was literally historic, not just for Minnesota, but for the entire NBA:
Timberwolves just came back from a 20-point deficit to win.
That’s the largest comeback in a Game 7 since play-by-play tracking started in 1997.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) May 20, 2024
THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES ARE GOING TO THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2004
— Canis Hoopus (@canishoopus) May 20, 2024
Nuggets head coach Mike Malone took this news with the level of grace and sportsmanship you’d expect from one of the game’s most pleasant-seeming people:
But in the end, while Edwards’ explosion of playmaking, scoring and passing-lane jumping will ultimately get the lion’s share of the credit for that turnaround — especially after Gobert fouled out on a (soft) touch foul on Jokic was a few minutes remaining — we would be remiss if we didn’t give some credit to The French Rejection; who for one brief, glorious moment, showed he might, deep in storage, have a bag after all.
