At 33 years old, any slippage from Rudy Gobert on the defensive end when compared to his prime has been minimal. One of three players ever to win Defensive Player of the Year four times, The Stifle Tower still has opponents second-guessing whether they dare challenge him at the rim.
Right now, most betting odds have Gobert in third to win the award again in 2025-26. One of the players ahead of him is Chet Holmgren (the other is Victor Wembanyama, who is the massive favorite). On the most recent episode of the Zach Lowe Show, Lowe and guest John Hollinger made their choices for the All-Defensive teams. Hollinger disagrees with the odds, and said this about why he has Gobert on the first team and Chet on the second:
“Gobert deals a little better with physicality, he can’t be pushed around underneath as much. With Holmgren as your lone big, you’re still very vulnerable on the glass, and to some physicality and post-ups…I think Gobert is much more solid on the glass, so I gotta give him a little bit more of an edge.”
Gobert over Chet?
It’s understandable why the Oklahoma City Thunder have a player near the top of the DPOY odds. Their 107.2 defensive rating is tops in the league, 2.5 points better than the second-place Detroit Pistons.
The Thunder are filled with players who bring it on the defensive end, though. It can be debated on a team with Lu Dort and Alex Caruso if Holmgren is even the team’s best defensive player. OKC doesn’t really have anyone in their rotation who is a defensive liability.
The Minnesota Timberwolves also roster Jaden McDaniels, but Rudy Gobert is still seen as the most impactful defender on the team. He essentially gives a team a floor as a top-10 defense, and they are currently ninth in defensive rating.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Timberwolves are allowing 12.4 points less per 100 possessions in op with Gobert on the floor. That mark is in the 99th percentile and even better than Wembanyama’s minus-11.7 on/off differential (Holmgren is at minus-7.1).
This season, it’s mostly been as simple as Minnesota looking like one of the best defenses with Rudy on the floor and one of the worst when he’s not (although on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, the defense was awful both with him on and off).
Gobert aiming for eighth first team All-Defensive appearance
Along with Wembanyama and Gobert on his All-Defensive first team (and those two are his first two choices), Hollinger also has Scottie Barnes, Derrick White, and Ausar Thompson on his first team.
Now, All-Defensive teams are positionless, meaning three big men in Gobert, Wembanyama, and Holmgren can all be on the first team. Wemby is likely to win his first Defensive Player of the Year unless he misses more than four more games.
If he were to, that would open up the award race, and it’s surprising to see Chet have odds that are much better than Rudy’s (+1000 compared to +5000 on FanDuel Sportsbook).