Despite his defensive excellence, I never thought winning a record-breaking fifth Defensive Player of the Year was truly in the cards for Rudy Gobert. That was until Victor Wembanyama went down with a calf injury. Wemby is now just five games away from being ineligible for awards, and the DPOY race is wide-open.
While winning a fifth DPOY might be tricky for Gobert, given the concept of voter fatigue, there's no denying he has a clear case. After a statement performance in an 11-point win over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch praised Gobert's recent DPOY-level play.
“I mean, it’s defensive player of the year stuff,” Finch said about Gobert. “It’s every bit as good as it was two seasons ago, and every other time that he’s won the award. It’s phenomenal.”
In Tuesday's game, Gobert posted three blocks and two steals while leading the Wolves to a single-game defensive rating of 101. This isn't just some one-off game, either — Gobert has been dominant defensively all season long, and his importance to the Wolves' defense is immense. To Finch's point, there's no difference between this and any other Rudy-DPOY season.
Gobert has a clear DPOY case
By every measure, Gobert is one of the best defenders of all time. Even still, he has plenty of detractors. However, the results are tough to argue with.
Gobert's elite rim protection makes him one of the best anchors in the history of the league. Since arriving in Minnesota, Gobert has led the Wolves to a top-10 defense, and this trend has continued, as the Wolves have the sixth-best defensive rating per Cleaning the Glass.
The Wolves are 13.8 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Gobert on the court. This incredible number puts Gobert in the 98th percentile. To put this number into perspective, the Wolves have the second-ranked defense with Gobert on the court and the 28th-ranked defense when he's off the court.
Let's now contextualize this number with Gobert's history. During his last DPOY season, the Wolves were 3.2 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Gobert on the court. Additionally, the previous highest on/off defensive swing of Gobert's career was a 12.1 with the Utah Jazz in 2020-21.
Frankly, Gobert has never been this important to his team's defensive success. Isn't that what the DPOY is all about?
Gobert's 1.4 blocks per game might not paint him as an elite rim protector. However, it's worth noting that opponents are shooting just 45.3 percent within six feet of the hoop when defended by Gobert; the league average is 59.9 percent.
Rudy Gobert PnR block pic.twitter.com/5NVTR2v3JR
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 24, 2025
More importantly, though, Gobert changes the thought process of opposing players. I wish there were a stat for "neverminds" because Gobert would dominate this stat. Regardless, opponents shoot 12.7 percent less at the rim when Gobert is on the court, which ranks in the 100th percentile. Gobert's 56.2 rim points saved led the league per Databallr.
A lot of fans will never understand Gobert's full defensive impact, and box him in as a drop coverage big man with limited mobility. What these people may never understand is that Gobert erases mistakes made on the perimeter and elevates everyone around him. The game tape and numbers speak for themselves.
Ultimately, by all accounts, Gobert is having a DPOY-level season, and the only thing that holds him back from truly competing for this award is that he's won it four times.