Rudy Gobert  Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel (born June 26, 1992) is a French professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the French national basketball team in the international competitions. Standing at tall with a wingspan of long, he plays the center position. He was the NBA blocks leader in the 2016–17 season. In 2018 and 2019, he won back-to-back NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, making him one of only ten players in NBA history who have won that honor at least twice. In 2019, Gobert shattered the single-season record for slam dunks with 306. That year, Gobert also led the NBA in screen assists, with 482, effective field goal percentage, with 66.9 percent, and true shooting percentage, at 68.2 percent. He has been named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2017, and the All-NBA Third Team in 2019. Gobert was born in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, in the north of France. He is the son of Corinne Gobert, and , a former professional basketball player from Guadeloupe who played for the French national team in the 1980s. Prior to his professional career, Bourgarel had attended Marist College in New York. Raised in his native town, Gobert started playing basketball in 2003 for the JSC St-Quentin club, before later joining the Saint-Quentin BB club. In 2007, he joined Cholet Basket's cadet categories training center and in 2010, he participated in the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with the French under-18 national team, where he finished as the team's best scorer and rebounder. From 2009 to 2011, Gobert mostly played for the Cholet Basket junior team, managing just one game for the senior team in 2010–11, recording 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. In 2011–12, he averaged 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 29 games for Cholet. During the next season in 2012–13, he averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 27 games. Gobert declared for the 2013 NBA draft and set NBA Draft Combine records for wingspan (7 feet 8½ inches) and standing reach (9 feet 7 inches) in the 2013 combine. These dimensions earned him the nickname "The Stifle Tower." The record for wingspan was broken a year later by Walter Tavares.