By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Rudy Gobert has been named the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year for a record-tying 4th time.
The 7-1 native of France joins Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners of the award, which has been presented annually since the 1982-83 season.
“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.”
A French center winning Defensive Player of the Year has become a familiar sight in recent years, with Wembanyama likely to continue the trend. Joakim Noah claimed the honor in 2014, and Rudy Gobert has since dominated, winning in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024.
Gobert has ranked within the top seven in DPOY voting for nine of his 11 seasons. He earned second place in 2017, third in 2020 and 2022, and fifth in 2015, with a seventh-place finish in 2016.