Two of the greatest defensive centers of the last 15 years are Dwight Howard and Rudy Gobert . The pair have combined to win seven DPOY titles since 2008, with Gobert surpassing Dwight's three with his fourth win last season. Howard doesn't think Gobert deserves all the DPOY awards he has, especially the ones he won before last season.
“I don't think he deserved those Defensive Player of the Years like he got them. 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,”
“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,” Howard added.
“This year, he was actually up in the pick and rolls. He was moving his feet. He was talking more and he was actually being aggressive. The years before that, I think they just gave it to him because of his team defense.”
The fact that Gobert has four DPOYs is not going to be aesthetically pleasing to anyone, as we know the reality of Gobert's game and especially his perimeter weakness which often leads to his team's downfall. But the statistics seem inarguable. Gobert is an advanced stats monster and many measurable statistics show that Gobert is arguably the biggest paint deterrent in the NBA, and has been for the last few seasons.
Gobert’s presence drives the opponents away from the basket, forcing them to take lower-percentage shots. Most shots an opposing team will attempt in the restricted area end up spilling over to the rest of the paint area and the mid-range zone, where they are far less efficient as shots. This is why Gobert has led his teams to the best defensive rating in the NBA several times, both with the Jazz and the Wolves.
Gobert's defensive achievements in Utah are arguably more impressive as he didn't have the perimeter defense talent that he's surrounded with now on the Timberwolves. Howard might not think Rudy deserves those DPOYs, but his award win last season was more questionable than the ones he won in the past.
Rudy averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks last season, being comfortably outplayed on pure statistics by DPOY runner-up, Victor Wembanyama . Despite Wemby averaging 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, the reason Rudy won the award was because everyone could see a tangible impact on winning for the Wolves.
Rudy's weakness on the perimeter will always make him a liability against switch-heavy offenses. We saw the Mavericks attack Gobert in one-on-one matchups multiple times during the Western Conference Finals. But we also saw the Wolves defense as a whole crater off without Gobert on the court.
At this point, any of his defensive flaws are minor shortcomings you need to accept because we still haven't seen a paint defender of Gobert's caliber in the NBA. All the teams that play him realize this fact quickly, which is why he consistently keeps winning DPOYs by replicating his defensive impact over the regular season, no matter what people think of his game through the eye test.
Related: Chauncey Billups Throws Shade At Rudy Gobert, 'Struggles' To Understand How He's A 4x DPOY
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