It takes more than talent, luck, physical traits, and hard work to make it in the NBA. It also takes a lot of mental strength to deal with the perks and demands of the NBA lifestyle, especially when it comes to the burden of criticism from your peers.
Rudy Gobert has been heavily criticized since signing that massive contract extension with the Utah Jazz. Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and even Darko Milicic have joked about his big paycheck and how he’s undeserving of it.
Then again, the French star has stayed silent and is only focused on doing his job. For that, he’s taking inspiration from LeBron James, one of the most criticized and successful players of all time. as he told Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“Obviously the better you get, the more people talk and the more people are either going to praise you or adopt you or criticize you, so I kind of started to embrace it and take every kind of criticism as, in a way, a compliment,” Gobert started.
“I mean, look at LeBron. He was actually the most criticized player of our generation, and he’s the one who has accomplished the most, so I would say when you start playing well, you’re going to have a lot of people criticize you and people praising you. But you can’t let that affect you,” he concluded.
Rudy Gobert says LeBron James is the "most criticized player of our generation"
“I mean, look at LeBron. He was actually the most criticized player of our generation, and he’s the one who has accomplished the most.”https://t.co/RXOScxcl92
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 3, 2021
LeBron James is no stranger to criticism and haters. He’s been called out and pointed at even since before he entered the league, and that’s not likely to change ever if it hasn’t changed by now.
And, while it’s pretty clear that Gobert is nowhere near LeBron James’ level, he could certainly emulate him and the way he deals with all the outside noise.
