Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Jazz center Rudy Gobert wins third Defensive Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JUNE 8: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz blocks the ball to win the game against the LA Clippers during Round 2, Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on June 8, 2021 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2021 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

NBAE via Getty Images

When he emerged as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2015, Rudy Gobert said, “To be honest and to be realistic, I think they’re going to put somebody who’s more exposed to TV.”

So, Gobert improved even further, became an All-Star and lifted the Jazz with him.

Today – between Utah’s nationally televised win over the Clippers yesterday and Game 2 of the second-round series tomorrow – Gobert was named Defensive Player of the Year. A well-deserved honor, this is Gobert’s third Defensive Player of the Year.

Full voting with first-, second- and third-place votes and total voting points:

1. Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz): 84-14-2-464

2. Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers): 15-67-11-287

3. Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors): 0-13-37-76

4. Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat): 1-3-17-31

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks): 0-0-12-12

6. Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks): 0-1-7-10

7. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers): 0-2-1-7

8. Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks): 0-0-6-6

9. Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers): 0-0-3-3

10. Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat): 0-0-2-2

11. Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers): 0-0-1-1

12. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Los Angeles Lakers): 0-0-1-1

Gobert is now just the third player to win three Defensive Player of the Years:


  • Dikembe Mutombo 4
  • Ben Wallace 4
  • Dwight Howard 3
  • Rudy Gobert 3

Gobert is a dependably elite regular-season defender. He is a great rim protector, and the Jazz take advantage by funneling opponents toward him. He excels as a defensive rebounder. And he has improved defending in space.

Gobert’s playoff defense – still good – is more questionable. He wasn’t as impactful against the Grizzlies in the first round, but he held up well in Game 1 against the Clippers and had the game-winning block of a Marcus Morris 3-pointer:

This is a regular-season award, and Gobert earned it. By a wide margin.

Ben Simmons campaigned hard for this honor, and Doc Rivers repeatedly endorsed him. That probably helped Simmons finish so high in voting (second place with 15 first-place votes). He didn’t crack my top three, as it’s so difficult for non-bigs to make that large of an impact in the regular season.

Which is yet another reason Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s third-place vote is so curious.