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After finishing 3rd place in voting for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Rudy Gobert can take some consolation in being the starting center for the NBA’s All-Defensive team.
2019-2020 NBA All-Defensive teams:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 8, 2020
First team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart, Ben Simmons
Second team: Bam Adebayo, Patrick Beverley, Eric Bledsoe, Kawhi Leonard, Brook Lopez
This is no surprise as Gobert is widely accepted as the best defensive center in the league.
Gobert had another great season as the cornerstone of a Utah Jazz defense that finished 12th in the NBA in defensive efficiency according to NBA.com. This is impressive considering Utah had given up multiple positive defenders like Derrick Favors and Jae Crowder.
It’s clear that this is a spot that Gobert will hold for many years to come as he continues to evolve his defensive game. Gobert has shown an ability to do so much more than just protect the rim. Gobert guards the post as good as anyone in the league, which doesn’t surprise anyone, but he has also shown an ability to guard on the perimeter and can switch onto almost any offensive player with fantastic results.
Gobert will go into next season as a clear favorite for this spot again and will likely be vying for his third DPOY award.