Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves had their best season in two decades. In addition to finishing with a 56-26 record, their best since the 2003-04 season, they also made the conference finals for the first time since then. However, they went on to lose to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Nonetheless, the Timberwolves established themselves as legitimate contenders in the league. A large reason for this is their star, Anthony Edwards. Additionally, Rudy Gobert, who is now in his third season with the Timberwolves, led the team’s league-leading defense last season.
As the defensive anchor of the team, Gobert helped the Timberwolves finish first in DRTG (109) and opp. points per game (106.5). Furthermore, the French native earned last season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, the fourth of his career. Now, as he aims for his record-breaking fifth DPOY award, Gobert has made his career goals clear–he wants to be the greatest defensive player in NBA history.
Minnesota Timberwolves Star Reveals Sky-High Career Goals
Rudy Gobert Wants to Become the ‘Best Defender Ever’
Via the New York Times (subscription required), Gobert revealed his goal of becoming the greatest defender in NBA history.
“My goal is to be the best defender ever,” said Gobert, whose Timberwolves had the league’s top defense last season. “And now my only focus is to win a championship and to keep impacting my team, keep trying to make my team the top defense in this league. I think that’s the best measure of an all-time defender.”
Though most would not consider Gobert the greatest defender of all time, he does have a great resume. Through 11 full NBA seasons, Gobert is a four-time DPOY, a seven-time All-Defensive selection, and a one-time blocks champion. Additionally, he has finished top-10 in DPOY voting nine times and anchored a top-10 defense (per DRTG) seven times. Throughout his career, Gobert has averaged 2.1 blocks per game as well.
Gobert is one of the NBA’s greatest rim protectors in league history. However, the big man is a bit one-dimensional on defense, not providing much out of the paint. There is no denying that he provides elite value on defense, but this lack of versatility hurts his case as the potential greatest defender in NBA history.
Regardless, the 32-year-old has been an elite defensive star for roughly a decade. Furthermore, he will likely continue to remain a top defender in the league for the foreseeable future.
The Last Word On Rudy Gobert
Gobert has been the subject of a lot of criticism in the last year. This is largely due to many believing that he did not deserve to win DPOY, especially over San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. Regardless, Gobert is a truly elite defender and is crucial to Minnesota’s success. At the start of the new season, the two sides agreed on a three-year, $110 million contract extension. What Gobert brings on the defensive side of the ball will continue to be important for Minnesota as they hope to follow up on their conference finals run with another impressive season.
