Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert has been named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. This marks the third time Gobert has taken home the award. Even better, the Jazz finished with the best record in the NBA.
2020-21 NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. This is Gobert's third DPOY.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 10, 2021
The timing is perfect, coming the day after Gobert's game-sealing block at the buzzer against the Los Angeles Clippers as the Jazz stole Game 1 of the second-round series in their hopes of making a trip to the NBA Finals.
Gobert beats out Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green and Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons who were the other two finalists. Gobert imposes his will on the defensive end on a nightly basis and is a huge part of Utah's success in their terrific regular season.
While Gobert is going to be thrilled with winning the award, the Jazz have bigger things on their minds as they hope to top the Clippers and advance to the Western Conference Finals. It does help that they have home-court advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs.
Still, Gobert was the best defensive player in the NBA over the course of the season and it isn't entirely a surprise that he walks away with this award. Well deserved for Gobert.
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