The Gobert Paradox: How do we remember a players career?
I had a thought while considering the possibility of Rudy Gobert’s jersey retirement with the Timberwolves, prompted by the announcement of the date for KG’s jersey retirement. That is, “Will Rudy be more remembered as a Timberwolf than as a Jazz player?” It feels preposterous; Rudy won 3 DPOYs in Utah, but he has more team success as a Timberwolf. In the end, I thought probably, as the further we get away from his time in Utah, the more it will be reduced to COVID and nothing else. So I got me thinking what other players fit in this Paradox, being remembered more as a player on one team with more success and less remembered with another team, even though they were incredibly successful on that team, just less so than the other one. I have one guideline, though: the player had to be on the team for at least 3 years, or the time had to be insanely memorable (Toronto Kawhi, for example, though this example is subject to change); this removes the “that player played here” type of responses.
I have three other players that I think fit into this paradox: Kareem, Shaq, and Wilt. Kareem and Shaq easily fit into this paradox; both had insane success with their first teams (Bucks and Magic, respectively), but they are better remembered for their success with later teams (LA for both plus Miami for Shaq). Wilt is a weirder case, as most people just remember him being in Philadelphia and then going to LA, ignoring that he spent 1 year in San Francisco with the Warriors when they moved, then went back to Philly to play with the 76ers.
I would like other examples or critiques of my 4 examples of this paradox, as I think it is an interesting idea of how we remember a player’s career.