Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is a 3x Defensive Player of the Year, but fans in Salt Lake City hope he won’t rest on his laurels in pursuit of a fourth trophy. The Defensive Player of the Year award may not hold the same luster as the Most Valuable Player award (as casual fans tend to underrate the impact of defense), but it’s still a prestigious honor.
As always, the competition will be stiff. The NBA is littered with elite defenders. Furthermore, voters may have the image of Gobert struggling to defend against the Los Angeles Clippers’ five-out formations in the Western Conference semifinals fresh in their minds.
No matter: Utah Jazz fans should still like their guys’ odds. Rudy Gobert has been the best rim protector in basketball for several years now, and that trend projects to continue into 2021-22. Gobert will invariably be in the mix for his fourth award.
Here he is ranked among the other top candidate for the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
5. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert vs Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks fans may feel as if the Greek Freak is the rightful claimant to this award on an annual basis, and frankly, they may have a case. Antetokounmpo was the same two-way terror we’ve come to expect last season. It may have been the first season in two years that he didn’t walk away with the league’s MVP award, but we’re pretty confident he’s content with his Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA Championship.
In the second of those back-to-back MVP awards, Antetokounmpo also took home the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year award. He became just the third player in NBA history to win both awards in a single season, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. That’s such rarified air that you don’t even need a vaccination to safely breathe it.
Having said that, Antetokounmpo’s Defensive Rating took a major slide last season, from a league-leading 97 in 2019-20 all the way to 107. If that trend continues, the superstar is unlikely to garner much consideration for the award.
Furthermore, Antetokounmpo faces a barrier that’s outside of his control in voter fatigue (more on that later). Without delving into a thorough exploration of armchair psychology, suffice it to say that it seems as if voters like rewarding new players with awards. Nonetheless, if anyone is capable of authoring a defensive season that simply cannot be denied, it’s likely Antetokounmpo.
4. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert vs Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo
Unlike Antetokounmpo (and, spoiler alert, a certain Utah Jazz center) Bam Adebayo will not fall victim to voter fatigue in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award running. He’s never received the award, and may be a prime candidate to do so.
Last season, Adebayo was named to the All-NBA Defensive Second Team, and deservingly so. He averaged 1.2 steals per game to go with 1.0 blocks per game, and finished the year with a stout 107 Defensive Rating.
If the award were handed out on the basis of defensive versatility alone, Adebayo may have already received it. He’s the rare big man who can defend in space, making him a highly coveted commodity in the modern NBA: a switchable center. His rare ability to do so makes him a modernized big man even in the absence of a reliable three-point shot.
Adebayo is also a more-than-competent rim-protector. With that rare combination of skills, one may be justified in asking why Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and others project as more deserving of the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The answer is relatively simple. Adebayo may be the most versatile defensive player in the NBA, but as of now, he’s just short of elite in each main facet of defense. His (relative) deficiency in both perimeter and interior defense is highlighted by his basic counting stats. His 1.2 steals per game are an elite mark for a big man, but not for an NBA player in general. Meanwhile, his 1.0 blocks per contest from 2020-21 are below average for a starting NBA center.
Adebayo can defend in space, but if he’s the primary assignment against any team’s best perimeter bucket-getter, the Heat might be in for a long night. Meanwhile, he may be an excellent rim protector (as we know, blocked shots do not always equal elite interior defense) but it’s hard to call him one of the NBA’s best, partly due to his comparatively diminutive 6’9 height.
If Adebayo takes a step forward in either category this season, he may dethrone Utah Jazz superstar Rudy Gobert. Otherwise, he’s likely to remain on the periphery of the Defensive Player of the Year award.
3. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert vs Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons
There are a multitude of questions surrounding mercurial point forward Ben Simmons heading into the 2021-22 NBA season. Whether he’s likely to win the Defensive Player of the Year award is not among the most pressing.
Still, mindful Utah Jazz fans will already have Simmons on their radar. After all, he was the runner up behind Rudy Gobert for the 2020-21 award, and with good reason. He posted a 106 Defensive Rating, and in the case of Simmons, that metric may have slightly undersold his actual value.
Like Adebayo, Simmons is a versatile defender, capable of guarding positions one-through-five on any given night. Unlike Adebayo, however, Simmons actually is elite in one facet of defense. There are precious few superior perimeter defenders in the NBA than Ben Simmons. He’s able to leverage his unique combination of size, length and lateral mobility to guard virtually anybody and force them into a tough night.
Such versatility, combined with the potential impact of voter fatigue, should make Simmons a prime candidate to usurp Rudy Gobert. However, there is an elephant that exists perpetually in Simmons’ room: his standing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz have no such issues. It’s difficult to anticipate how long Simmons’ saga with the Sixers will take to resolve, but every game that he’s unable to showcase his elite defense counts against his Defensive Player of the Year case. If Simmons misses half of the season or more, he’s unlikely to even be considered for one of the league’s most prestigious individual awards.
Rudy Gobert was with the Utah Jazz on opening night, protecting the rim with greater aptitude than any other center in the league is capable of demonstrating. Until Simmons finds a new NBA home, it’s hard to rank him any higher on this list.
2. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert
We mentioned voter fatigue when it came to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s case for a second Defensive Player of the Year award. When it comes to Rudy Gobert, voters may suffer from outright exhaustion.
Gobert, as we’ve mentioned, is already a 3x recipient of the award. If he were to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year trophy, he would join Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace in a three-way tie for the most Defensive Player of the Year awards in NBA history.
By all means, Gobert is widely expected to be, once again, the best rim protector in the NBA this season. If he can match or exceed his 101 Defensive Rating from last season, voters may have a hard time keeping him out of the history books. However, if teams copycat the Los Angeles Clippers’ playoff strategy against the slow-footed big man this season, it may weaken his standing.
As has been well-documented, Gobert struggled to close-out on three-point attempts when the Clippers went with a small-ball, five-out formation featuring Nicolas Batum as their center. In all likelihood, teams won’t make a habit of following suit on a consistent basis in 2021-22. After all, big men still hold value in this league, and ones that can shoot 3s may be increasingly common, but they still don’t grow on trees.
Of course, his limitations as a perimeter stopper aren’t the only barrier Gobert faces. Voter fatigue is a real phenomenon. Whether or not it’s fair, handing the Utah Jazz big man the award on a seemingly annual basis is simply boring.
For that reason, there’s one player who’s 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year odds we prefer. He’s never won the award, and the narrative would practically write itself if he did.
1. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert vs Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis
Narrative is a funny thing. Sometimes, it’s difficult to determine whether it’s shaping the widespread perception of reality, or reality itself. For all its ambiguities, one thing is clear: it influences voting in individual awards in the NBA.
For that reason, Anthony Davis is in a prime position to steal the Defensive Player of the Year award from Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz. He had an injury-riddled 2020-21, playing in just 36 games and looking like a shell of himself in the NBA playoffs.
Voters will probably be chomping at the bit to award Anthony Davis an individual honor, but with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook sharing the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster, the MVP trophy is likely out of the question. Fortunately for Davis, he’s got the chops to win the Defensive Player of the Year award too.
Last season, Davis averaged 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game to go with an 104 Defensive Rating. In a way, Davis splits the stylistic difference between Gobert and Adebayo: he’s an elite rim protector (albeit, not on Gobert’s level) and a competent perimeter defender.
Couple his versatile, effective defensive skill set with the allure of a redemption narrative, and Defensive Player of the Year may be Davis’ to lose in 2021-22 with good health.
Utah Jazz fans won’t be overly concerned with Rudy Gobert’s Defensive Player of the Year standing, as long as their club is in the thick of NBA championship contention. Nonetheless, the Stifle Tower has a chance to earn his place in history this season. Here’s hoping he’ll pursue it.