"I Fucking Hate Rudy Gobert" - It Has Become Clear That Under No Circumstances Will Shaq Ever Stop Hating On Rudy Gobert

David Berding. Getty Images.

If there's one thing both current and former NBA players love doing, it's hating on Rudy Gobert. NBA players hate that guy. On the court, we have Draymond looking to choke him out any chance he gets, and off the court we have Shaq's dedication to being an all time Rudy Gobert Hater. When it comes to hating on Rudy Gobert, Shaq will never pass up the opportunity. It doesn't really matter what the topic is either. If it has anything to do with Rudy Gobert, Shaq is going to find a way to shit all over him. He's a well-documented and self-declared Gobert Hater

so his latest shots should come as no surprise

OK, so that's a mixed bag. It is true that as a player with that level of contract, you're expectations as a player is to dominate. If you take up that much of a percentage of the salary cap, you have to produce. That's true for Gobert as well as any other max-level player. So I agree with Shaq in that regard. Now, what that looks like can be different depending on the player. For some guys, that means going out, putting the entire team on your back on both ends of the floor while showing up in big moments. For other guys, it can just mean dominate your role. Whatever you specialize in, be the best in the world at it. For Gobert, that's rebounding, rim protection, and defense. Given his role on that Wolves team, that's all they really need for that money. When he fails to play to that standard is when you can rip him, but overall, his current contract (3/109M) isn't even that bad. It's down to 22.63% of their cap, which is a livable percentage for what Gobert gives you.

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So on one hand, while it may seem like Shaq is going a little extreme with this level of hate, on the other hand, I also have to accept the fact that he very clearly owns that he's hating. That matters I think. Once you do that, I feel like it then opens things up for you to hate as hard as you want. It's not like we can get mad at Shaq for hating on Gobert when he's acknowledging that he is in fact, a Gobert Hater. 

Advantage Shaq? Feels like it.

In terms of whether Shaq will have to wear a dress to Rudy Gobert's HOF induction, that's a very interesting topic. If we look at the resume as it stands today

- 3x All Star

- 4x All NBA

- 4x DPOY

- 8x All Defense

- 1x Rebounding Champ

- 1x Block Champ

some may see this as being a little light, others may see it as a no-brainer HOFer. For me, when it comes to Gobert's HOF chances, I think you have to first look back at a pretty similar player who ended his career with a very comparable resume

- 4x All Star

- 5x All NBA

- 4x DPOY

- 6x All Defensive

- 2x Rebounding Champ

- 1x Block Champ

- NBA Champion

Who is that player? Ben Wallace. And what do we know about Ben Wallace?

The only undrafted player to ever make the Hall Of Fame. One of the best defensive players of all time. To me, that's the pathway for Gobert to get in. As of now, Basketball Reference has it at a 27% chance, which seems low, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. When you look at their Similarity Scores, which is basically which former player had a career that looked similar based on win shares, and the names are all HOFers

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Considering Gobert still has plenty of time to make a few more All NBAs/All NBA Defensive teams and who knows, maybe the Wolves finally break through and win a title, I think it's fair to assume that he'll get the nod. Will it be immediately like Ben Wallace or will he have to wait a little while is more the question as opposed to if he's going to get in at all. That feels like a lock, which unfortunately means Shaq should be prepared to live up to his end of the bargain. Not only is Gobert's resume on pace, but there's also a precedent for a player just like him to make the HOF.