Utah Jazz and French center Rudy Gobert announced his intentions to represent his country at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“My goal is definitely to play,” Gobert said last week. “Obviously, if we go to the NBA Finals, and we go to a Game 7, I might miss the Opening Ceremony, but hopefully we can figure it out.”
A potential Game 7 of the NBA Finals would be on July 22, while the first set of men’s basketball games in Tokyo begin on July 25.
Gobert, 28, plans to join the French national team as soon as possible after the Jazz’s season ends next spring or summer.
“The vacation will probably be after the Olympics,” he added.
At the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Gobert averaged 10.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.9 blocks per game in eight games.
Gobert was joined at last year’s World Cup by fellow NBA players including Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and Frank Ntilikina.
