Rudy Gobert Makes NBA History: Minnesota Timberwolves Center Wins Defensive Player of the Year for Fourth Time

Rudy Gobert Makes NBA History: Minnesota Timberwolves Center Wins Defensive Player of the Year for Fourth Time

2024-05-07 22:50:00

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert entered the NBA record list following winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time.

The pivot to Minnesota Timberwolves, Rudy Gobertentered the NBA record list following winning the award for Defensive player of the year of the league for the fourth time.

Rudy Gobert31, also won the honor in 2018, 2019 and 2021 with Utah Jazzand joins the Hall of Fame centers Dikembe Mutombo y Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners.

Rudy Gobert was the anchor of this season’s top-ranked defense. Minnesota allowed 108.4 points per 100 possessions, 2.2 fewer than Boston Celticsother classified.

The Frenchman ranked sixth in the league with 2.1 blocked shots per game and limited opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 45.2%, the lowest among 38 players who took at least 1,000 shots, according to Second Spectrum data. He ranked fourth in defensive rebounds with 9.2 per game.

Rudy Gobert won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time. Photo: Getty

Their presence also served as an important deterrent. According to Second Spectrum, opponents attempted just 21.6% of their shots from inside the restricted area then Rudy Gobert was on the field, which would have been the lowest total of any team this season. That increased to 26.7% when he was off the court, which would have been sixth-highest among teams.

Loose Timberwolves They limited their opponents to 56.6% shooting on dunk attempts and layups, the lowest rate in the NBA.

The domain to Rudy Gobert It extended beyond the painting. He thrived in turnover situations, allowing the fewest direct isolation points between players to defend at least 175 isolation possessions, as tracked by Second Spectrum. He also excelled as a pick-and-roll defender, allowing the third fewest points per pick among screen defenders defending at least 1,000 picks on the ball.

Matt Williams of ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.

1715132270
#Rudy #Gobert #Defensive #Player #Year #fourth #time

Leave a Replay