Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert earns fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award

One day after the Timberwolves stifled the defending champion Nuggets in Denver without him, Wolves center Rudy Gobert won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for a record-tying fourth time Tuesday.

The Wolves defeated the Nuggets in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series 106-80 without Gobert, who stayed in Minnesota for the birth Monday morning of his first child, a boy named Romeo.

The Wolves took a 2-0 series lead, winning their fourth consecutive road game in the playoffs while Gobert watched the dismantling from afar.

“It was incredible,” he said on TNT’s broadcast. “I always said the only thing that could make me miss a [playoff] game is the birth of my son, and it happened. I really wanted to be there. The guys really did the job and not just did the job, they did it in incredible fashion. The love and support they showed me from a distance, I’ll never forget it.”

On Tuesday, he won the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy by tying fellow centers Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most DPOY awards won by an NBA player.

Gobert received 72 first-place votes in media balloting, while San Antonio rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama had a distant 19 and Miami’s Bam Adebayo three.

Gobert won for the fourth time — in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024 — in seven years. Now 31, he’s also a three-time NBA All-Star and six-time All-Defensive first-team player. He also became the first Wolf to ever win the honor. Kevin Garnett did not do so until after he was traded to Boston.

Gobert is the second Wolves player to win one of the NBA major postseason award this season. He joins forward Naz Reid, who won Sixth Man of the Year for the first time two weeks ago.

Even without Gobert’s presence in Game 2 against the Nuggets, Wolves coach Chris Finch credited Gobert for his team’s defensive relentlessness.

“Rudy has driven the defensive culture here,” Finch said after Monday’s game. “I think it’s a testament to his impact, his presence and what he has infused into the team. How important defense is and how great we can be when we play it.”

Wolves basketball boss Tim Connelly in July 2022 traded five players, four future first-round draft picks and a pick swap to Utah for the All-Star center. It was widely second-guessed in 2023, when injuries and unfamiliarity sidetracked a season that ended with a five-game, first-round loss to the Nuggets. Connelly has been praised, obviously, in 2024, when Finch’s coaching and Gobert’s will transformed the team’s defense into the NBA’s top-rated group.

“It’s great teamwork,” Gobert said on the TNT pregame show that announced Tuesday’s winner. “We love to give individual awards and all these things. It’s great, but you can’t win alone. I really have a lot of gratitude for Tim Connelly and Chris Finch for believing in me and allowing me to do my best every day and just try to change the culture in Minnesota.”

He also praised his teammates for a 56-26 season in which the Wolves led the Western Conference much of the season before finishing third behind Oklahoma City and Denver.

“I never had any doubt,” Gobert said. “I always say great things take time. Winning is not something that happens overnight. You have to overcome adversity, go through some ups and downs, build up some resilience. Last year was exactly that.”