NBA’s Rudy Gobert Reflects on Experiencing Racism from Family Members as a Child

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVApril 15, 2024

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Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert detailed the racism he experienced as a child from members of his own family in an essay published Monday by The Players’ Tribune.

The three-time All-Star stayed with his mother, who’s white, raised him after his father traveled back to his native Guadeloupe. He said how “that was a problem” for relatives of his mother.

“After I was born, certain relatives made it very clear to her that she wasn’t welcome to come to Christmas dinner if she brought me along,” Gobert wrote.

“She could come on her own. But she couldn’t bring ‘that child.’ She couldn’t bring Rudy.”

Gobert wrote that his mother cut off contact with her family after they gave her the ultimatum.

The 31-year-old also recounted his childhood, when his mother didn’t have a lot of money to lavish on her children. He said he developed “an iron belief” that he’d one day have a career enabling him to repay her for all of the sacrifices she made.

By the time he was 12, Gobert had developed a passion for basketball and saw the sport as his chance to achieve his wider dream:

“I used to get every magazine I could get my hands on. Remember those posters in the middle of every issue? I’d tear them out and tape them to my bedroom wall. I put up so many of them that after a while you couldn’t even see the walls underneath. It was wall-to-wall NBA posters with my graffiti tags sprayed over them. I would close my eyes and imagine myself on an NBA floor — dunking the ball, guarding legends like Kobe, Tony, Dirk, STAT … this was the place I would go to. In my head, in my room, in France. If you saw a picture of me at that age, you might not believe it. But I believed it with all my heart and soul.”Gobert recalled the moment he first saw his name included in an NBA mock draft. Not only did it represent a source of validation, but he also took pride in seeing his family name displayed so prominently.

That sense of pride also helps to explain the center’s reaction to missing the All-Star Game in 2019. He grew emotional when describing his disappointment and revealed Monday the meaning went much deeper than simply not being recognized as an All-Star.

“When it happened, I was caught off guard. I had a bunch of cameras in front of me after our practice,” he said. “I got asked about not making the team, so I started telling the reporters how my mom was the one to call me to tell me the news. And how she started crying on the phone with me.

“For some reason, I just lost it.”

Gobert said he hoped that moment serves as an example for younger players and fans and shows it’s OK to be emotional and be your authentic self.

“A lot of satisfaction can come from being yourself, even when you know that some people will make fun of you for it,” he wrote. “To me, the highest form of strength is when you stay true to yourself even if the world will mock you for it. That’s when you show your true colors.”