Rudy Gobert wins 2023-24 Defensive Player of the Year
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has won the 2023-24 defensive player of the year award, the league announced Tuesday.
He won the award over San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, who won the league’s rookie of the year, and Miami’s Bam Adebayo. He tallied 72 of the 99 first-place votes, plus 24 second-place votes and only one third-place vote.
The only other bigs to earn first-place votes were Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, who was dubbed a “lock” to make Team USA for the upcoming Olympics because of his defense alone.
Tuesday marks Gobert’s fourth time winning the award over the last seven years and his first since 2020-21, his penultimate season in Utah. He ties Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo as the only players to ever win the award four times, with nobody ever winning five.
The 7-foot big’s rim protection buoyed one of the league’s top modern defenses, averaging 2.1 blocks per game, in addition to 14.0 points and 12.9 rebounds across 76 contests. Gobert led the NBA in defensive win shares while finishing in the top-8 in both defensive rebounding percentage (29.2; 7th) and block percentage (5.5; 8th).
The Wolves led the NBA in defensive rating and adjusted defensive rating, which accounts for strength of schedule played, by 2.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Dunks and Threes. They were also the top team in effective field goal percentage allowed, plus were No. 2 in rim field goal percentage allowed and No. 5 in block rate and opposing turnover rate.
Gobert was the backbone of it all. Minnesota had the perfect combination of length and athleticism to make life easier for Gobert. I’m not sure I would have voted for him, but he was still the best defensive player on the best defensive team. Point, blank, period.
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