Rudy Gobert wins record
Rudy Gobert made some history. Victor Wembanyama nearly did.
Gobert, the Minnesota center, was announced Tuesday as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record-tying fourth time — joining Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
It was the fifth time in the last 11 seasons that a French center won defensive player of the year — and it sure seems like Wembanyama will add to that country’s total before long. The San Antonio rookie center, announced Monday as the league’s Rookie of the Year, was second in the voting and fell one spot short of being the first player to win the DPOY trophy in Year 1 of his NBA career.
Viva la France, indeed. Joakim Noah became the first Frenchman to win DPOY when he was the overwhelming choice in 2014, and Gobert now has the trophies for 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
“It’s great teamwork,” Gobert, the best defender on a Timberwolves team that had the best defense in the NBA this season, said on TNT during the award’s announcement. “We love to get individual awards and all these things, and it’s great but you can’t do it alone.”