Shaquille O’Neal Calls Rudy Gobert An Overrated Defender Despite Evidence To The Contrary

Getty Image / Joshua Gateley

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is arguably the best defensive player in the NBA. The Frenchman is the heavy favorite for his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

But, that’s not impressive enough for NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq claimed that Rudy Gobert was an overrated defensive player on his latest podcast episode.

The 7-foot-1 Gobert has long been a dominant defensive force in the league. His 7-foot-9 wingspan and impressive mobility and timing allows him to be an all-time great rim protector.

This year has been no different. He’s averaging nearly 13 rebounds a game and just over two blocks a game to go with 13.7 points a contest.

But, his impact goes far beyond the stat sheet. The Timberwolves have the best defense in the league this year. Their DRTG, essentially the number of points a team gives up per 100 possessions, is at 108.3. That’s over two points better than second-place Boston in that category. In fact, that gap is larger than the gap between second-ranked Boston and eighth-ranked New York.

Gobert is absolutely the anchor to all of that. Having such an intimidating rim protector allows the Timberwolves to be ultra-aggressive closing out on three point shooters. They know that even on blow-by’s, Gobert will be in the paint making it tough for teams to take advantage.

Not only are the Timberwolves excellent on defense, but that’s unsurprisingly translating to a ton of wins. They’re currently 45-21, a half-game back of the top spot in the Western Conference.

Assuming Rudy Gobert hangs on to his huge lead in the NBA DPOY odds, he will become just the third player in league history to win the award four times. The only other two are Ben Wallace and Alonzo Mourning. That doesn’t seem overrated to me!