Rudy Gobert was the best defender on the NBA’s best defensive team, and as a result is the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record-tying fourth time.
Gobert, 31, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, on Tuesday joined Hall of Famers Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo in winning his fourth NBA top defensive player award. The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, on Monday named NBA Rookie of the Year, and the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo were the other finalists.
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 rating (108.8 points allowed per 100 possessions). 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.
Opponents shot just 49 percent in the paint when Gobert contested the shot. He was 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.
Gobert previously won Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018, 2019 and 2021 with the Utah Jazz. His current team has a 2-0 lead on the defending champion Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference semifinal series, though Gobert missed Game 2 Monday for the birth of his child.
Wembanyama, 20, would have been the first rookie to be named the league’s top defensive player. He led the NBA in blocks by a wide margin, averaging 3.6 per game.
Adebayo, perhaps the NBA’s pre-eminent switchable defender out of the post, averaged 10.4 rebounds and anchored the league’s fifth-best defense while numerous Miami starters missed large swaths of games due to injury.
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(Photo of Rudy Gobert and Chet Holmgren: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)