Rudy Gobert 's last two seasons have gone as planned—well, sort of. When he was traded from the Utah Jazz, many quickly asserted that the Minnesota Timberwolves were laughably wrong for sending five players and five picks to acquire him.
While Gobert has repaid his team by winning last season's Defensive Player of the Year award, the Frenchman was more often in the spotlight for being toyed with by league MVP Nikola Jokic during the 2024 postseason than the many highlight-worthy defensive plays he made all season.
An overrated defender?
Until recently, the seven-footer was often criticized for not having anything to show for offensively. Although he has averaged north of 14 points per game in multiple seasons, Gobert's offensive game has been limited to being a stand-still dunker underneath the basket.
Hey, at least he is an elite defender that brings it every night, right? Well, no—at least not according to three-time DPOY winner Dwight Howard, who knows a thing or two about dominating at the center position.
Howard, like another former superstar big man , isn't a fan of Rudy. In a recent podcast appearance, the Orlando Magic icon made some eye-opening remarks about the Timberwolves big man.
"I don't think he deserved those Defensive Player of the Years like he got them," said Dwight. "I feel like he's a great team defender, but for what he did to get those Defensive Player of the Years, I don't see it. I don't see him being an elite defender."
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Dwight goes all in
Despite Howard's comments, Gobert is coming off a fine defensive year. As the head of the snake on Minnesota's defensive unit, No. 27 anchored the No. 1 rated defense in the association with a 109.0 rating. Individually, he finished No. 6 in the NBA in blocked shots and even held star big men Anthony Davis, Chet Holmgren, and Victor Wembanyama to well under 50 percent shooting in head-to-head matchups last season. Yet Howard is convinced "The Stifle Tower" is more a product of a system.
"I see him as somebody who has the size. He's 7'2". So when you 7'2" and you're playing with athletic guys, you don't have to do nothing but clean up their mistakes or just being big in the paint," said the one-time NBA champion. "The years before that, I think they just [voted him DPOY] because of his team defense."
Securing four DPOY awards hasn't been enough to silence the doubters; it's actually fueled more criticism for Gobert. With the Timberwolves ascending under the stewardship of budding superstar Anthony Edwards, Rudy's defense will only be put in a hotter spotlight next season and beyond. How he responds to the pressure of maintaining his position as the top defensive center remains to be seen.
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