Rudy Gobert’s Nationality

Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel is a basketball center who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves as of October 2024. He was born on June 26, 1992. His professional career began in 2011 with the Cholet Basket, a professional basketball team in France. After playing for two seasons, he declared for the 2013 NBA draft and was selected by the Utah Jazz as the 27th overall pick. After nearly a decade, in 2022, he was traded to the Timberwolves. He also represented the French national team in international events. As of October 28, 2024, he has played in 760 games, starting 668, averaging 12.7 points, 1.3 assists, and 11.8 rebounds.

Gobert is considered to be among the greatest defensive players of all time. He is tied with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in NBA history, having won four of them in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024. He has been named to the All-NBA Team four times, the All-Defensive First Team seven times, and the NBA All-Star team three times. Further, he led the NBA in blocks and rebounds during the 2016–17 and 2021–22 seasons respectively. Gobert was selected to the All-NBA Third Team in 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well as the All-NBA Second Team in 2017.

What is Rudy Gobert’s nationality?

Rudy Gobert is of French nationality. He was born and raised in Saint-Quentin, France. He took home the silver medal from the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship and the bronze medal from the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. Alongside Léo Westermann, Gobert was selected to the All-Tournament team for the 2012 tournament.

Head coach Vincent Collet asked Gobert to assist the senior French national team in getting ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He averaged 4.1 points per game at the 2014 FIBA World Cup and won bronze. During the 2015 EuroBasket, he averaged 10.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks, helping France win another bronze. He was also named for the All-European Championships Second Team.

Gobert participated in five games for France during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, averaging 5.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. At the 2019 FIBA World Cup, he also won the bronze with France, averaging 10.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game.

Gobert led France to a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, averaging 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds. He was chosen for the All-Tournament Team in 2022 after leading France to a silver medal in the EuroBasket with an average of 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. Going into the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gobert averaged 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game, helping France win a silver medal.

Rudy Gobert’s Hometown

Rudy Gobert is from Saint-Quentin, France. Prior to joining the Saint-Quentin BB club, he began playing basketball in 2003 for the JSC St-Quentin club. In 2010, he competed for the French under-18 national team in the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he finished as the team's top scorer and rebounder. He had entered Cholet Basket's cadet category training camp in 2007.

Rudy Gobert’s Birthplace

Rudy Gobert was born to Corinne Gobert and Rudy Bourgarel in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, in northern France. From 1985 until 1988, his father, Rudy, who hails from Guadeloupe, a French overseas department, played college basketball for the Marist Red Foxes in the United States. Notably, he participated in 19 games for the French national team.

Bourgarel met Gobert's mother, Corinne, while playing basketball professionally in Paris and Saint-Quentin. However, the couple divorced when Gobert was three years old; thus, he stayed with his mother in Saint-Quentin and made regular trips to meet his father in Guadeloupe.