Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz has won the league’s best defender award for the third time. The NBA announced this on Thursday night.
Gobert had already won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017/18 and 18/19. The Frenchman becomes the fourth player to have won the award at least three times: Previously, Dikembe Mutombo (4x), Ben Wallace (4x) and Dwight Howard (3x) did so.
In a vote of 100 journalists, Gobert received a total of 84 votes for first place and got 464 points, clearly relegating the other finalists Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers) and Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) to the places.
The 28-year-old led the league this season in defensive rebounds (10.1 per game) and came second in the blocked throws (2.7). He also finished second in the defensive win shares and led the Jazz, which had the best record of the regular season, to the third best defense in the league.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year 20/21: This is how it was voted
| player | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | Total points |
| Rudy Gobert (Jazz) | 84 | 14 | 2 | 464 |
| Ben Simmons (Sixers) | 15 | 67 | 11 | 287 |
| Draymond Green (Warriors) | 0 | 13 | 37 | 76 |
| Bam Adebayo (Heat) | 1 | 3 | 17 | 31 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Clint Chapel (Hawks) | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Joel Embiid (Sixers) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Jrue Holiday (Bucks) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Myles Turner (Pacers) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Jimmy Butler (Heat) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Lakers) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Matisse Thybulle (Sixers) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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