‘Best defender in the world’ Rudy Gobert overlooked for NBA All-Star team

For most of their careers, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert have been competing for accolades. Whether it be All-NBA slots or All-Star appearances, the two have often been on collision course to get the last spots in some coveted league honors. In 2019 Gobert made third team All-NBA over Towns, which meant Towns missed on making more money in his next contract.

It was hard not to feel, after Thursday’s All-Star reserves came out, that this might have happened again when Towns, along with Wolves teammate Anthony Edwards, made it to the All-Star Game and Gobert did not.

Towns will be playing in his fourth game while Gobert said he will likely be lying on a beach somewhere.

“I’ve been in this league for a long time, I know how it works,” Gobert said. “I mean, I’m happy — at the end of the day, I get to get some vacation. The best defender in the world, the No. 1 team in the West and the No. 1 defense in the league, and get to enjoy the beach during the All-Star weekend. Might be a blessing, actually.”

The difference now is that the honors and snubs come with mixed feelings, as Towns said Thursday. He acknowledged his All-Star appearance would not have been possible without Gobert’s defensive effort this season in helping the Wolves attain the top record in the Western Conference.

“Been two of the top bigs in the league for a while and we’ve always been fighting with each other for the honors,” Towns said. “... It feels different when you’re being competitive with someone that you want to beat, but it’s different when you are competitive with someone you want to see with you there. It’s a totally different feeling.”

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Gobert said he isn’t as bothered as he used to be when snubs like this happen. He knows his “worth” in the league and what he brings on the defensive end of the floor, which often can’t be measured. Perhaps Towns got in because it is easier to quantify what he brings offensively, which is 52% shooting overall, 44% three-point shooting and 87% from the free-throw line. Towns could accomplish just the 13th 50/40/90 season in NBA history.

Gobert said he was happy both of his teammates got in the game. He also said he would get to joke that he got extra vacation time all the times he was snubbed from the All-Star game at his Hall of Fame speech one day.

“I told [Towns] to just enjoy his moment. He earned it,” Gobert said. “He was feeling bad. I said, ‘You don’t have to feel bad.’ It’s not the first time it happened for me and probably not the last time I get disrespected. But I’m in a place now where I always see the bigger picture.”

Towns said he realized Gobert’s efforts paved the way for him and Edwards to both make the All-Star Game, considering it’s rare that a team gets two players in without being a top team in a conference.

“Big fella deserved to be in the All-Star Game and all of this is all possible because of him,” Towns said. “Being No. 1 in the West, you need to have a defensive impact. To have the best defensive player in the NBA definitely gave us better odds of making it. It’s all part of the reason we made it was because of him. So it felt weird that he’s not there with us.”