Over and over again, Frenchman Rudy Gobert‘s skills have been questioned. This year hasn’t been much different. Despite winning another Defensive Player of the Year award last season, Gobert found himself on the bench in crucial stages of the Olympics, which raised questions about the validity of his accolades. While many have criticized Gobert’s defense, former NBA star Dwight Howard believes that the 4x DPOY winner has made significant strides with the Wolves. DH12 once again doubled down on his claims.

During his appearance on the Gil’s Arena Podcast, Howard mentioned that while he doesn’t believe Gobert’s previous wins were fully deserved, he admitted that the Wolves star has shown considerable improvement this year. “But I don’t think he deserved those Defensive Player of the Years like he got them. I feel like he’s a great team defender… I don’t see home as an elite defender,” he said, before pointing out how Gobert’s size allows him to stay in the paint and alter shots.

“It’s really hard to say that he is an elite defender to have four Defensive Player of the Year awards. This year, he was actually up in the pick and roll. He was moving his feet, he was talking more, he was actually being aggressive,” Dwight Howard argued. He further shared that Gobert’s previous three wins were because of his team’s overall defense.  

Gobert competed against Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis to claim the NBA Defensive Player of the Year title for the fourth time. Despite doubts surrounding his performance, Howard had nothing but praise for the veteran on social media. After congratulating the Wolves center, Howard emphasized that Gobert’s defense this year has been better than in the last three times he won the title. 

“From one DPOY to another I will say this has been the greatest defense I’ve seen out of all the other times you’ve won! Get that ring this year then go for another and be the only one with 5!” Howard wrote on X. Gobert won his last three titles with the Utah Jazz back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 and then again in 2021. But, he failed to do so in 2022. Gobert undeniably brought a massive change to the Timberwolves’ defense last season. Howard is right in his claims.

Averaging 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game, the Frenchman helped the Wolves secure third place in the Western Conference. That was an impressive display than last year where he averaged 11.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Gobert averaged 2.1 blocks across the 757 games he played for the Jazz. However, not everyone was impressed, including Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaquille O’Neal criticized Rudy Gobert’s performance this year

During a segment of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal stated that Gobert isn’t an elite defender, a point Dwight Howard also mentioned. O’Neal criticized Gobert’s inability to block 3x MVP Nikola Jokic.

“I never thought he was a great defensive player… See, what it is, there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. Like, he’s not doing that s**t against Joker… He’s 7’6″, of course, if you lay it up, he’s going to block,” Shaq stated.

Despite this criticism, Gobert’s stats tell a different story about his defensive capabilities and how he has contributed to the Minnesota Timberwolves. If anything, we can surely expect Gobert to get even better at it, and as Howard mentions, he might go on to secure another DPOY win.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.