The veteran center had plenty to say.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' season ended Friday night the same way too much of this series ended, with a blowout.
They lost 139-109 at home to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, sending San Antonio off to face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals.
Minnesota had no real answer for anything, getting smoked on the glass 60-29 while the Spurs shot 56 percent from the field, and the fourth quarter was over before it really started.
Rudy Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year and the guy who has anchored Minnesota's middle since 2022, didn't sound bitter about any of it.
He sat down at the podium afterward and talked about what the year meant to him personally, and the answer had almost nothing to do with the scoreboard.
Gobert Reflects on a Tough Year
"I'm very excited. I'm very excited because I think this season it meant a lot to me because you know personally it was a season where I had to face a lot of adversity," Gobert said. "Just being out here competing I never took that for granted. So I'm just excited that I was able to finish the season off healthy."
There's a real reason that quote hits the way it does.
Gobert missed a chunk of the regular season and spent months hearing his role and his production get torn apart by anyone with a microphone, but he still played 76 games while averaging 10.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks on 68.2 percent shooting from the field.
His defense in the opening round against Denver was the single biggest reason Minnesota even got past Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in six games.
In 11 playoff appearances, the 33-year-old averaged 7.8 points and 9.9 rebounds, and he sat near the top of the postseason rebounding chart for most of Minnesota's run.
The matchup with Victor Wembanyama, a guy he mentored back in France when Wemby was still a kid, added a story to the series that nobody really talked about enough during the actual broadcasts.
What Comes Next For Minnesota
The 49-33 Timberwolves are heading into a messy offseason.
Anthony Edwards finished the year on 24 points and rough shooting in Game 6, Julius Randle's playoff struggles will not stop being talked about anytime soon, and the front office has some real frontcourt fit questions to answer this summer.
The 62-20 Spurs raised the bar in the West, and Minnesota now has to figure out whether this current group has the offensive firepower to keep up with them.
As for Gobert, the next chapter starts with him on his own two feet, healthy, after a year that tested almost every part of his game and his standing inside the league.