Rudy Gobert won the defensive player of the year award for the fourth time in his career on Tuesday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves pivot also earned this honor in 2018, 2019 and 2021. He is the third player in NBA history to win this title four times. The others are Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs were the other finalists.
Wembanyama was unsurprisingly named rookie of the year at yesterday’s unveiling, unanimously. In a survey carried out by The Athletics Among other NBA players, Wemby was the favorite of his peers in a close vote as the league’s best defender. Montrealer Luguentz Dort and Jrue Holiday completed the top-3, while Gobert was in sixth place.
The 7-foot-1 player was the mainstay of Minnesota’s defense, which allowed the fewest points per game on average.
Gobert ranked sixth in the league with 2.1 blocked shots per game and held opponents to a 45.2 percent field goal percentage, according to Second Spectrum data. He ranked fourth in defensive rebounds with 9.2 per game.
His presence also had a major deterrent effect. According to Second Spectrum, opponents attempted just 21.6 percent of their shots from inside the restricted area when Gobert was on the court, which would have been the lowest among any team this season. This figure increased to 26.7% when he was not on the field.
Gobert is the first player to achieve the distinction with the T-Wolves.
“It reflects a lot of teamwork,” Gobert told the TNT network. Individual honors are appreciated, but you can’t do it alone.”
In the second round in the West, Minnesota took a 2-0 lead against the Denver Nuggets, the reigning NBA champions.
Gobert missed the second game on Monday. He was in Minneapolis where his fiancée gave birth to their boy, Romeo.
“I am fulfilled on many levels,” said Gobert. I am very grateful for that.”
Gobert averaged 14 points this season, appearing in 76 games. He led his team with 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
His teammate Naz Reid was recently named Reserve Player of the Year.
The third game of the series against Denver will take place Friday evening at Target Center.
2024-05-07 23:37:31
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