Rudy Gobert is the anchor of the Utah Jazz defense, and his rim protection is good enough to shut down an entire team’s offense at times. He is no slouch on the offensive end either, and he is a capable finisher near the ream. Currently, Rudy Gobert is averaging 15.5 PPG, and 14.7 RPG while shooting 71.3% from the field.
There is no question that Rudy Gobert has been one of the best defensive players of this generation. He has won 3 DPOY awards over the course of his career and has a chance to win his fourth this season. Recently, Rudy Gobert made his case for the award when speaking to Malika Andrews, claiming that if anyone else was doing what he did on the defensive end, they’d be the front runner for the award.
Rudy Gobert joined NBA Today to discuss DPOY: “If anybody else not named Rudy Gobert was doing what I do this year and having the impact that I have this year, they would be the frontrunner and it would be clear. … Why should I be penalized for being consistent year after year?” pic.twitter.com/zR8u6ZDgbm
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) April 7, 2022
There’s a lot of great defenders in thsi league… I think it should just be about impact. Who is having the most impact for their respective team… The numbers speak for themselves… If anybody else not named Rudy Gobert was doing what I do this year and having the impact that I have this year, they would be the frontrunner and it would be clear. If I’m being consistent, why should I be penalized for being consistent year after year?
There’s no doubt that Rudy Gobert would be a deserving winner of the DPOY award. However, there are definitely other outstanding defenders in the league who have cases for the award, such as Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart.
Even if he doesn’t win the award this season, Rudy Gobert is still a fantastic defender. The main focus for Gobert and the team should be to make a deep playoff run, and perhaps this is the year they end up making it out of the Western Conference and making the Finals.
