UTAH JAZZ
Gobert Gifts $50 To Jazz Game Night Employees
Jan 22, 2022, 10:15 AM | Updated: 2:34 pm
Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz looks on during a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 16, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Game night employees at Vivint Arena got an extra surprise Friday night when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert gifted each of them $50.
According to a post on Utah Jazz Reddit, Gobert made the remarkable gesture by handing out cash in a custom envelope that read Happy New Year with the All-Star’s signature to employees who work the team’s games.
That includes security, arena and parking attendants, and the custodial staff.
“Rudy Gobert personally gifted every Vivint Arena employee 50 bucks,” user humpregybr0gart shared.
View this post on Instagram
Gobert made the generous gifts unannounced, an act of kindness that would have gone unnoticed had the Redditor not shared the post showing the $50 bill.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year even included the revolving group of temporary employees who work late into the night to clean Vivint Arena after fans have left the game.
The cleaning crew usually consists of 40-50 employees who go from row to row gathering discarded food and drinks. On late games, the temp workers are regularly inside the arena until well past midnight.
Tim LaComb who hosts the Jazz pre, half, and postgame shows alongside Jake Scott on The Zone Sports Network said he saw how meaningful the gift was to one Vivint Arena employee who received his envelope long after the game had finished.
Rudy Gobert is awesome. https://t.co/EbTF3VU03V
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 22, 2022
“After the game, I saw two employees walking towards each other in the suite area, one of them had a stack of envelopes he was handing out,” LaComb told KSLSports. “One opened the envelope and nearly fell over — he looked at the money like it was a million bucks.”
It’s not the first time Gobert has offered a gift in private to employees at the arena, and it’s not even his biggest donation.
After the NBA was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gobert made a $500,000 donation to part-time employees and COVID-Related Services in Utah in March of 2020 to help cover expenses for those who found themselves out of work.
The Jazz star also runs the Rudy’s Kids Foundation, a charity dedicated to protecting, empowering, and improving the lives of children by supporting outstanding charities all around the world.
