A tree has fallen. Mark Eaton, a former racket colossus and Rudy Gobert’s predecessor with Utah, died on Friday at the age of 64 from a still unknown reason, reports Salt Lake City-based KUTV, for which he had commented many matches Jazz.
During his eleven years of professional career, this Californian of 2.24 m and more than 130 kilos knew only the Jazz, where he played the role of lightning rod. In 949 NBA games between 1982 and 1993, Eaton took more rebounds (7.9 on average) than he scored (6). He especially disgusted many attackers by his cons, finishing four times at the top of the standings. He remains the only NBA player to have finished more than 5 blocks per game over a season (5.6 in 1984-1985).
Twice elected best defender in 1985 and 1989, a total that Rudy Gobert, to whom he was close, could beat this season, he has long accompanied John Stockton and Karl Malone. But he had retired before the two finals between Jazz and Bulls in 1997 and 1998 because of back and knee problems. This did not prevent the franchise from withdrawing its No. 53 jersey in 1996.
Since then, he had notably chaired the union of former NBA players between 1997 and 2007.
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