Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert wins NBPA Locksmith Award

 Just as Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was selected as the NBA’s top rookie by his peers, Rudy Gobert received the NBPA Award for being the league’s best defender.

The Defensive Player of the Year Award won’t be handed out until the NBA Awards Show on June 25th. Rudy Gobert is one of the finalists for the prestigious recognition, but only time will tell whether or not he’ll ultimately take home the hardware.

Some have expressed concern that he missed too many games due to injury to win the award, but that surely didn’t stop him from earning NBA All-Defensive First Team honors. Despite a 26-game absence this season, his impact on Utah’s D and the turnaround he helped orchestrate upon his return are both undeniable.

Not only that, but if the players around the Association had their choice, Rudy Gobert would be recognized as the league’s top defender. That much was made clear when Rudy was selected for the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) Locksmith Award. The award was created to highlight the NBA’s best defender.

Regardless of how the media ends up voting for the Defensive Player of the Year award, it’s pretty awesome that the guys going up against Gobert night in and night out pinpointed him as the most daunting defensive opponent. Gobert recognized as much as well —

"“I just want to thank everyone that voted for me as the best defensive player in the league. It really means a lot to me knowing that the guys that I compete against every night are showing some love and recognition and I really appreciate it.”"

I honestly believe Gobert is the frontrunner for the DPOY award and the reception of the Locksmith Award is very likely yet another indication of that. It’s hard to miss his defensive presence, and there’s no denying that his ability to own the paint was instrumental in the Jazz turning their season around.

Gobert joins both Donovan Mitchell and Jae Crowder as NBPA Award winners. Mitchell previously won the Leader of the New School Award recognizing the league’s top rookie and Jae Crowder was selected for the Backbone Award – an award given to one player on each team recognizing a guy who, according to the NBPA website, is “the heart & soul of their team, he brings 100% to his squad!”

It’s hard to argue that Crowder doesn’t do that on a nightly basis and cool to see a player who only was a member of the Jazz for the latter part of the year earn such a nod on his new team.

Next: What does the future hold for Ricky Rubio and the Utah Jazz?

The NBPA is showing the Utah Jazz some serious love with these award announcements. We’ll find out at the NBA Awards Show on June 25th if the media shares a similar sentiment.