Utah Jazz: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

3. Rudy Gobert has a career-best, healthy season

One of the bright points of the 2018-19 NBA season for the Jazz was the fact that they were able to get their All-Star center to have one of his best seasons in the league to date.

This year, Utah center Rudy Gobert enjoyed the best, and perhaps more importantly, healthiest, season of his NBA career.

Throughout the regular season, Gobert averaged 15.9 points per game, which is a career-high mark with his next-highest average being 13.5 per game in 2017-18. He also finished with a career-high 12.8 rebounds per game, along with a career-high 2.0 assists and 2.3 blocks in 31.8 minutes per contest.

Although he has been dominant on the defensive side of the ball throughout the course of his six-year career, Gobert improved offensively in 2018-19 too. He finished shooting 66.9 percent from the field during the regular season, which ranked first in the entire NBA and was a career-best mark for the big man.

Outside of his statistics improving in year six, the biggest key for Gobert this season was the fact that he was able to stay healthy and able to perform at a high level once again simultaneously.

For the first time since the 2016-17 season, Gobert was able to appear in at least 80 games, playing in 81 of the 82 possible games during the regular season.

That was important for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, especially after having played in just 56 contests a season ago while dealing with various leg ailments and other injuries.

Much like his teammate Donovan Mitchell, Gobert is a key aspect to this Jazz team and what they will be able to accomplish moving forward.

In order to continue to have success and reach the postseason like they were able to do this year, the Jazz are going to need Gobert to continue to have seasons like he did in 2018-19, both statistically and with his health.