Utah Jazz focus Rudy Gobert has been named the 2020-21 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the NBA reported today.
This denotes the third NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for Gobert, who likewise acquired the honor in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. The 7-1 French native is the fourth player to win the award at least three times, joining Dikembe Mutombo (four), Ben Wallace (four) and Dwight Howard (three).
Gobert got 84 first-place votes and earned 464 points from a worldwide board of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Philadelphia 76ers monitor Ben Simmons completed in runner up with 287 focuses (15 in front of the rest of the competition votes). Brilliant State Warriors forward Draymond Green, the 2016-17 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, finished in third place with 76 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for every third-place vote.
In his eighth NBA season, Gobert led the league in defensive rebounds per game (10.1), all out defensive rebounds (720) and all out blocked shots (190) and ranked second in blocked shots per game (2.70). He recorded six games with least 15 defensive rebounds and eight games with at least five squares. Gobert snatched a season-high 20 cautious bounce back against the Warriors on March 14 and impeded a career-high nine shots against the Chicago Bulls on March 22.
As per NBA Advanced Stats, Gobert positioned second in the NBA in defensive win shares, which estimates a player’s defensive impact on winning. He defended the most field goal endeavors at the edge in the NBA (549) and held opponents to 50.1 percent shooting on those shots, the third-lowest mark among the 27 players who guarded at any rate 300 shots at the edge this season.
Behind Gobert, Utah finished third in the NBA in defensive rating (107.5) and second in rivals’ field objective rate (44.7). The solid safeguard moved the Jazz to an alliance driving 52-20 record and the favorite in the Western Conference for the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
Chosen as a NBA All-Star for the subsequent time, Gobert found the middle value of 14.3 points and 13.5 rebounds in 71 games this season. Gobert drove the NBA in absolute bounce back (960) and positioned second in bounce back per game. He additionally shot a NBA-high 67.5 percent from the field, driving the group in that classification for the second time in the last three seasons.
Gobert, the 27th in overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, has profession midpoints of 12.0 focuses, 11.3 bounce back and 2.24 squares in 545 games, all with the Jazz. He was casted a ballot to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in every one of the past four seasons.
The voting results for the 2020-21 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award are beneath. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst and Young LLP. Complete polling forms for every elector will be posted at PR.NBA.com after the declaration of all finish of-season grants.
Below is the list of winners of the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS
1982-83 – Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee
1983-84 – Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee
1984-85 – Mark Eaton, Utah
1985-86 – Alvin Robertson, San Antonio
1986-87 – Michael Cooper, L.A. Lakers
1987-88 – Michael Jordan, Chicago
1988-89 – Mark Eaton, Utah
1989-90 – Dennis Rodman, Detroit
1990-91 – Dennis Rodman, Detroit
1991-92 – David Robinson, San Antonio
1992-93 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1993-94 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1994-95 – Dikembe Mutombo, Denver
1995-96 – Gary Payton, Seattle
1996-97 – Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta
1997-98 – Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta
1998-99 – Alonzo Mourning, Miami
1999-00 – Alonzo Mourning, Miami
2000-01 – Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia
2001-02 – Ben Wallace, Detroit
2002-03 – Ben Wallace, Detroit
2003-04 – Metta World Peace, Indiana
2004-05 – Ben Wallace, Detroit
2005-06 – Ben Wallace, Detroit
2006-07 – Marcus Camby, Denver
2007-08 – Kevin Garnett, Boston
2008-09 – Dwight Howard, Orlando
2009-10 – Dwight Howard, Orlando
2010-11 – Dwight Howard, Orlando
2011-12 – Tyson Chandler, New York
2012-13 – Marc Gasol, Memphis
2013-14 – Joakim Noah, Chicago
2014-15 – Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio
2015-16 – Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio
2016-17 – Draymond Green, Golden State
2017-18 – Rudy Gobert, Utah
2018-19 – Rudy Gobert, Utah
2019-20 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee
2020-21 – Rudy Gobert, Utah