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Whether he wins the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award or not, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is still going to be regarded as a monster on that end of the floor. There is arguably no more impactful player defensively than the Stifle Tower, whose ability to wreak havoc with his defense is a big factor in their upcoming matchup against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
Gobert has been superb with what he does best all season long. There is no shortage of defensive data supporting the idea that Frenchman might not be human, including this one cited by David Locke.
Since the All-Star break opponents shooting percentage when Rudy Gobert was the closest defender was 39.1%
Yes 39.1% That is absurd.
On 20 shots a night
9.3% less than expected.
Gobert is far from a flashy player, making him almost criminally underappreciated at times despite his undeniable importance to the Jazz, who finished the regular season 10th in the NBA in scoring defense with just 107.6 points allowed per game. But without Gobert, it's hard to imagine the Jazz becoming the perennial playoff contender that they have become, even though they have the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley Jr., and Jordan Clarkson.
In fact, since the 2014-15 NBA season, there was only one year in which Gobert did not lead the Jazz in win shares, which was in 2015-16 (Gordon Hayward), and he's mostly done that by just simply being a merciless, rim-protecting demon that Utah is going to need to show up if it is to get past Doncic and the Mavs.
Gobert also led the Jazz in the regular season in defensive rating, with opponents scoring just 103 points per 100 possessions when Gobert is on the floor. He also had a 137 offensive rating, the highest among Jazz players outside of Greg Monroe.
