RUD AWAKENING
‘Closest thing to international peace’ laugh NBA fans after watching Rudy Gobert get dunked on in insane poster
Victor Wembanyama began his campaign with hosts France
OLYMPIC basketball got off to a huge start today as hosts France took on Brazil.
And fans loved seeing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert get dunked on early.
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The four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year is known as the Stifle Tower thanks to his brilliant blocking.
But Brazil's Joao Cardoso took no notice of that reputation with a monumental alley-oop dunk.
Gobert was sent crashing to the hardwood and fans raced to social media to celebrate the viral clip.
"There is truly nothing that unites the entire planet like Rudy Gobert getting dunked on," commented one.
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"Our closest thing to international peace."
"Amen to that," added another.
"I still hate him for winning that DPOY over Simmons when he didn’t deserve it," replied a third.
Brazil got off to a flying start and led 12-5 after Memphis Grizzlies star Cardoso put Gobert on a poster.
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His teammates went wild celebrating the emphatic moment.
But NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama soon took over the game and led France to a 78-66 victory.
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He finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Team USA take on Serbia tomorrow as the favourites get their campaign going.
Head coach Steve Kerr laid down the law to his players after a film session highlighted a lack of effort.
The star-studded roster narrowly avoided a scare against South Sudan before edging out Germany in their London warm-ups.
And ahead of Sunday's Olympic opener against Serbia in Paris, Kerr put the team through its most brutal practice yet.
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"That's what today is about. It's the reminder. It's time. We're here," he said.
"So it's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus.
"We can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan."
Team USA is the overwhelming favorite in Paris with an incredibly deep roster.
But Kerr - a four-time Olympic champ as a player - wanted to emphasize how easy a shock exit can be in the single-knockout rounds.
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"It's literally six games and, watching the tape, we're jogging through some possessions," Kerr said.
"We're not hitting bodies on boxouts. And so it's time. It's time to lock in on that."