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NBA Award Season Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert
The Defensive Player of the Year has mostly been between two players this season, but that is not to discount the five other excellent candidates.
This award has seven candidates: Rudy Gobert, Ben Simmons, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo, Myles Tuner and Jimmy Butler.
Antetokounmpo has an underrated season, possibly because he’s hasn’t been “Third MVP in a row” good, but he’s still been All-NBA and All-Defensive first team good.
The reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year and the Bucks have been adjusting to a new system, with the addition of Jrue Holiday, they have been using a more adaptable defense after last postseason’s loss to the Heat. Antetokounmpo has not looked the same as he did last year defensively, but he is very close to being just as impactful as he was last year.
Embiid suffers from the issue that Clarkson and Ingles are currently going through. Embiid and Simmons are both defensive juggernauts, so it’s hard to say who is more impactful, especially since Embiid is the traditional rim-protecting center.
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Turner has missed significant time with a toe injury, but he was a top-three candidate earlier in the season — therefore he had to be included so he’s an honorable mention.
The two Miami Heat players in Adebayo and Butler have also been phenomenal, with Butler having one of the most underrated seasons in recent history.
The reason these two might be lower, or “snubbed” is due to the Heat’s poor start to the season, which was coming off a three-month offseason from the NBA Finals, and the Heat’s roster being thrown a loop with health and safety protocols.
Now it leaves the top two candidates… in what will likely be the closest vote for a major award this season…
In the red corner, the 6’11” Australian point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers is Ben ‘Mr. Won’t Shoot’ Simmons. In the blue corner is the 7’1” French center for the Utah Jazz is Rudy ‘Stifle Tower’ Gobert.
The closer we get to the end of the season it seems more of a consensus that Gobert is the favorite. As mentioned, the 76ers have two Defensive Player of the Year candidates, while ranking second in defensive rating as a team. And the Jazz have one candidate, ranking fourth in defensive rating.
After the Jazz lost a heartbreaking game-seven, they rebuilt their roster to be completely offensively orientated, besides the man in the middle – and they have maintained a top-five defensive rating.
HoopHabit’s poll suggests a similar sentiment, Gobert received half of the first-place votes while Simmons received eight of the 20 votes (and Embiid received one).
The HoopsHabit panel has decided the Stifle Tower is the Defensive Player of the Year, as much as it pains me to say another Australian just misses out on a major award, Gobert absolutely deserves it.