Rudy Gobert Wins NBA Defensive Player of Year Award over Giannis, Paul George
June 25, 2019
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert retained his NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award by claiming the 2018-19 honor on Monday.
The 26-year-old averaged 2.3 blocks per game, same as 2017-18, in the regular season while also averaging a career-high 9.0 defensive rebounds. Gobert appeared in 81 games for Utah, up from just 56 last season.
While Gobert's blocks have decreased since he led the league with 2.6 per game in 2016-17, Jason S. Walker of SB Nation's SLC Dunk made an argument for this season as Gobert's best:
"No player analysis would be complete without telling you how many other players have matched or exceeded each of those stats Gobert has put up. The answer is 12. And the only player on that list that isn't a Hall of Famer (or well on their way) is Chris Webber.
"Throw in a final qualification of having less than 2.5 turnovers per game and that short, 13-player list is whittled down to one player: Rudy Gobert."
The only others in NBA history to earn back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards are Kawhi Leonard, Dwight Howard, Ben Wallace, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Rodman and Sidney Moncrief.
The Jazz saw their season end in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against the Houston Rockets.
