By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Minnesota Timberwolves star center Rudy Gobert was recently hailed as this NBA season’s Defensive Player of the Year confirmed on May 8, 2024.
With another Defensive Player of the Year trophy, Gobert just recorded his fourth overall award while also helping Minnesota showcase one of the best post-season performances in the ongoing NBA Playoffs.
Gobert then joined an elite company after equalizing Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for the most Defensive Player of the Year awards in the history of the NBA.
The lanky French frontcourt anchor first won the award way back 2018 when he was still a member of the Utah Jazz core and followed it up in the 2019 and the 2021 NBA seasons.
Aside from his numerous Defensive Player of the Year awards, Gobert was also a former rebounding and blocks leader of the league.
Sitting as runner-ups for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award were Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat and newly-crowned NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
In 76 total games played this season, Gobert averaged 2.1 blocks per game and is the focal point of the tremendous Minnesota defense.
With his presence inside the court, the Timberwolves became the no. 1 team in the league in terms of defensive rating with a 109.8 average.
In the ongoing NBA post-season, Gobert continued his solid outing and is currently averaging 13.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.
