NBA Champ Rushes to Rudy Gobert and Wolves’ Rescue, Promises to Tackle Aaron Gordon’s Kobe Bryant Mastery

“If Aaron Gordon turns into Kobe Bryant… got to live with that” — Rudy Gobert‘s post Game 4 statement gained significant attention. Notably, Denver Nuggets’ Gordon scored 27 points on ’11-for-12′ shooting in Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This led to the Wolves losing the match to the Nuggets by 107-115. However, former NBA star Dwight Howard believes he has a solution to Gobert’s ‘Gordon turning into Kobe Bryant’ problem for the Wolves.

Hilariously, though, the solution was none other than Dwight Howard himself. He has, in a humorous way, campaigned for himself to play for the Timberwolves. In his post on X, the former Orlando Magic star shared a photo of him in the Wolves’ jersey adjacent to Gobert’s recent Kobe Bryant statement. “Aye Rudy yall need help? Yall don’t gotta live with that,” read the caption to the post. 

It is worth mentioning that in this season, Timberwolves earned themselves the reputation of the strongest defensive side. However, the team recently struggled against the Nuggets, and specifically against Gordon’s on-point shooting. And this happened despite the roster having a player like Rudy Gobert, who won his 4th Defensive Player of the Year award recently.

Coming back to Dwight Howard, he has not played in the NBA since his last stint with the LA Lakers in 2022. But one may wonder if Howard in his prime would have been better than the current Gobert. Notably, Howard has himself been a renowned defensive force in the NBA. But where does he stand against the 4x DPOY Rudy Gobert?

A quick comparison between Rudy Gobert and Dwight Howard

In terms of accolades, the two players are almost evenly matched with a slight edge over Howard. Notably, Gobert has won 4 DPOY awards as compared to the Magic star’s 3. And he is the only 3rd player in NBA history to achieve this feat after Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. However, an interesting fact about Howard’s 3 DPOY awards is that he won all three of them consecutively in a row. And he is the only player in NBA history to achieve this feat.

Speaking of the NBA All-Defensive First team, Rudy (6) has a lead over Howard (4) in this department. However, in his 11 seasons so far, the 31-year-old has earned the honor of rebounds leader and blocks leader one time each. On the other hand, Howard, by his 11th season, had earned the spot of rebounds leader 5 times and blocks leader 2 times.

And in terms of stat-line comparison as well, the former Magic star surpasses the Wolves center. Notably, Howard in his first 11 NBA seasons averaged 18.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Gobert in his 11 seasons so far has averaged 12.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. So it can be assumed that prime Dwight Howard could have slightly outperformed Gobert. However, how efficient he would’ve been against Kobe Bryant is a different story.