French pivot Rudy Gobert announced on Sunday that he had extended his contract with Utah for $ 205 million over five years.
The basketball player thus signs the third most important contract in the history of the NBA, and dethrones Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griemann, becoming the highest paid French sportsman in the world.
He has become the highest paid French sportsman in the world.
French basketball player Rudy Gobert has just extended his contract with the NBA Utah Jazz team for the sum of $ 205 million (around 170 million euros) over five years.
Landing the third biggest contract in the history of the main American basketball league, he dethrones the two world football champions, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
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"Among the best pivots in the world"
"It shows that people believe in me", soberly reacted the basketball player, originally from Saint-Quentin, in the Aisne.
In total, it will touch a little over 33 million euros per year.
An amount that is not a surprise given the maddening statistics of Picard, knowing that the NBA is still a cash machine.
"He is among the best pivots in the world," said George Eddy, Franco-American sports journalist specializing in basketball.
"Rudy Gobert was twice elected best defender of the year. Defensively, he is the best player in the world", continues the consultant of Canal +.
Bad start to the year
Trained in Cholet, in Maine-et-Loire, the Frenchman of 2 meters 16 had nevertheless started badly the year.
His image had been considerably tarnished during a press conference during which he ostensibly touched the microphones in front of journalists, a few hours before learning that he was positive for Covid-19.
This had led the NBA to suspend its season.
If Rudy Gobert has just won the jackpot, he is still largely ahead of the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, the highest paid athlete in the world, with more than 100 million euros in annual income.