Pierre Haessig / Front Office Sports (DR)
By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
Officially retired since last August, Gordon Hayward has had great seasons in the league, particularly alongside Rudy Gobert. Subject of a recent interview, the former All-Star spoke about his French counterpart… and his limits.
Despite his relatively poor track record, he can congratulate himself on the little progress he has made in NBA. Indeed, Gordon Hayward was able to capitalize on his only selection to the All-Star Game. His approximately $273 million in career earnings allowed him to announce his retirement with peace of mind last August, at “only” 34 years old.
From now on, the former winger has a lot of free time which he uses, among other things, to remember his good years in the league. The most notable remain those he spent at Jazz, notably accompanied by a certain Rudy Gobert. The Frenchman was then already one of the best defenders on the circuit, even if he displayed a shortcoming that has dogged him ever since.
Gordon Hayward and goes from sa critique to Rudy Gobert
Recent guest of The Pat Bev PodcastHayward mentioned his association with Gobert and took the opportunity to reveal his weak point in defense, from which he believed Utah suffered:
Gordon Hayward : Rudy has always struggled to defend on the perimeter and that’s something we constantly feared when facing a guard who was quick and capable of shooting from distance.
We really had big difficulties against Boston when they had IT (Isaiah Thomas), against Kemba (Walker), against Dame (Damian Lillard)… If Rudy came out too much after an opponent’s screen, these backs got around him and if he stayed on the cover, they were shooting. I think the fact that he can’t defend on the perimeter is probably the only criticism that can be leveled at him.
Due to a lack of mobility, the French pivot struggled to hinder the opposing backcourt stars in pick-and-roll situations. An observation which continues to be made about him today, and which the Jazz and Hayward therefore already deplored 10 years earlier. That said, the latter wanted to temper his speech somewhat afterwards:
Gordon Hayward : I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s bad at it. Simply, we’re talking about world-class players, and that’s what they were doing on pick-and-rolls with Rudy in front. They were shooting.
In the eyes of Gobzilla’s detractors, this flaw could have cost Utah a title.
Partner of Rudy Gobert for four seasons at Jazz, Gordon Hayward points out his inability to defend effectively on the outside in the NBA. However, this did not prevent the French pivot from being crowned Defender of the Year four times.
