[ad_1]
Rudy Gobert was the best defender on the best defensive team in the NBA and as a result is the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record fourth time.
Gobert, 31, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, joined Hall of Famers Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo on Tuesday to win his fourth award as the NBA’s best defensive player, with 72 of a possible 99 first-place votes.
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, named NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday, finished second and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat was third.
RUDY GOBERT:
4x DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR pic.twitter.com/UwnPhxzYeP
– Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 7, 2024
The 7-foot-1 Gobert anchored a Timberwolves defense that led the league in scoring (108.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) and opponent field goal percentage (45 percent). Gobert’s individual defensive rating of 106.6 was the best of any player who averaged at least 25 minutes per game, according to Minnesota’s analytics department.
“It’s a great team effort,” Gobert said on TNT after the award was announced. “We like to give out individual awards and all those things, and that’s great, but you can’t do it alone. I really have a lot of gratitude to (Minnesota team president) Tim Connelly, (coach) Chris Finch, all of my teammates for believing in me, allowing me to do what I do best every day and just trying to build the culture here in Minnesota.
“It’s a credit to the guys for joining, for coming with the same state of mind,” added Gobert. “We really wanted to be a defensive team and so far we’ve been able to do that this year.”
Gobert previously won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2018, 2019 and 2021 with the Utah Jazz. This is his second season with the Timberwolves, who lead 2-0 over the defending champion Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference semifinal series, although Gobert missed Game 2 Monday due to birth. of his son, Romeo.
Wembanyama, 20, would have been the first rookie to be named the league’s best defensive player. He led the NBA in blocks by a wide margin, averaging 3.6 per game.
Adebayo, perhaps the NBA’s primary switchable defender out of the post, averaged 10.4 rebounds and anchored the league’s fifth-best defense while many of Miami’s starters missed numerous games due to injuries.
Gobert’s stats, compared to Wemby’s, may be a bit behind the rookie, but opponents shot just 49 percent in the paint when Gobert contested the shot and 43.4 percent from anywhere on the pitch when Gobert was the closest defender.
Gobert finished sixth in the league in blocks (2.1 per game), second in rebounds (12.9 per game) and fourth in defensive rebounds (9.2 per game) during the regular season. His team was tied for first in the West entering the final day of the regular season, while the Spurs were ranked 21st in the league in defense and had the fifth-worst record in the league.
Gobert and Wembanyama, a tantalizing pair of 7-foot rim protectors and overall defensive stalwarts, will co-anchor the French team’s defense at the Paris Olympics this summer, where international rules allow packing the paint and to keep the goals.
“For us, Victor will play with Rudy,” said French team coach Vincent Collet. Athleticism. “They are our best combination, our main strength. We have a lot of options, but probably to start the match, a lot of times it will be Rudy and Victor.
The NBA’s No. 1 and No. 2 defensive players, on the same national team, trying to defend their home field during the Olympic Games that France is hosting?
It looks like a block party is in the works.
Required reading
(Photo by Rudy Gobert and Chet Holmgren: Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
[ad_2]
