While Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert may be a no-brainer franchise cornerstone now, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, his big breakout really didn’t come until the 2016-17 season when he put up 14 points, 13 boards and 2.6 blocks per contest and led the Jazz to a 50-win campaign. Despite those efforts, Gobert wasn’t an All-Star that season.
Instead, it was DeAndre Jordan who got the spot many had earmarked for the Stifle Tower (also: then teammate Gordon Hayward got in as a wing player). Crazy, right? Still, Gobert received a nice measure of vindication when he was an All-NBA Second Team selection which, in the eyes of many, is actually the bigger honor.