Rudy Gobert NBA Awards: Today, the NBA announced that Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz center has been named the 2020-21 KIA NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Rudy defeated Ben Simmons the Philadelphia 76ers guard, and Draymond Green the Golden State Warriors forward.
With his 2020-21 #KiaDPOY win, Rudy Gobert becomes the 4th player to win the award at least 3 times, joining Dikembe Mutombo (four), Ben Wallace (four) and Dwight Howard (three). pic.twitter.com/QQmDaa56Cx
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 10, 2021
Rudy became the fourth player in league history to win the award three times. He has joined Dikembe Mutombo (four), Ben Wallace (four), and Dwight Howard (three). He received his first defensive award in 2017-18, and 2018-19.
Rudy, the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, has career averages of 12.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.24 blocks in 545 games, all with the Jazz.
Rudy Gobert NBA Awards
The Utah Jazz surprised Rudy Gobert with the DPOY trophy 🙏
(via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/xJv4lPCEXt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 10, 2021
He received 84 1st-place votes and earned 464 points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. While Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons finished in 2nd place with 287 points (15 first-place votes). Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, who has been the Defensive Player of the year in 2016-17, finished in 3rd place with 76 points. Players were awarded 5 points for each 1st-place vote, 3 points for each 2nd-place vote, and 1 point for each 3rd-place vote.
Thankful for it all… the doubters, the supporters, and more importantly my teammates and all the amazing people around me that push me to be better everyday. We only getting started 🙏🏽🔮📈. https://t.co/oqtgdZ9IKg
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) June 10, 2021
Utah’s defense was also 11.9 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor, per NBA.com.
According to NBA Advanced Stats, he has defended the most field goal attempts at the rim in the NBA (549). Rudy has held opponents to 50.1 percent shooting on those shots, the third-lowest mark among the 27 players who defended at least 300 shots at the rim this season.
Un.
Deux.
Trois.@rudygobert27—𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄-𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐏𝐎𝐘 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/VBDGV3a0M5— utahjazz (@utahjazz) June 10, 2021
The Jazz is currently on a league-leading 52-20 record and the top seed in the Western Conference for the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
