From Kendrick Perkins to Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert has been criticized vehemently, but one man stands strong with the Wolves’ star. Ever since Gobert won his 4th DPOY award, the Frenchman’s apparent defensive frailties have been put on display, be it against Nikola Jokic in the Conference Semi-finals or more recently against Luka Doncic in the Conference Finals. But former NBA star, Eddie Johnson, has come forward in Gobert’s defense.

“Waterboys and couch potatoes ripping Gobert for not stopping Doncic on a step back 3 , when he has lit up everyone this year to the tune of 34 a game is the world we live in! 😂,” Johnson posted on X. That is true to some extent. The Mavs star led the league in scoring this year, averaging 33.9 points/game. So it’s not just Gobert who has been at the other end of some Luka Magic. In fact, Johnson even called out Green recently for his remarks against Gobert.

Johnson alleged Green is jealous of the Frenchman because of his 4 DPOY, while Green got only 1. The former Suns star further asked Green to not let his jealousy cloud his professionalism. “… A current player ripping another for personal reasons who is in a conference final and you are hired to talk about the game is wrong!” he wrote in a post on X.

Notably, Green has time and again changed his stance on Rudy Gobert, but it has mostly been critical. One such instance was Dray throwing shade at ‘The Stifle Tower’ for not guarding Jokic. “Very interesting how the cookie crumbles… I can’t help but notice there’s a center who won DPOY, and we asking KAT to go guard the center,” he said. However, he is not the only member of the NBA community who has criticized Gobert after his DPOY win.

Kendrick Perkins called Rudy Gobert a “defensive liability“

This came after Game 4 of the Conference Semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves defense collapsed in the game, especially against Aaron Gordon, who scored 27 points on 11-12 shooting. Gobert defended himself and the team, saying that Gordon turned “into Kobe Bryant” in this game. However, Perkins held the Frenchman responsible for lacking in defense. 

“I just don’t understand how Gobert go from DPOY to a defensive liability. I mean damn!” he posted on X. It is worth mentioning that with his recent DPOY win, Gobert has become the only third player in NBA history to win the NBA DPOY 4 times. So this was bound to increase expectations from the Wolves star. Disappointment would only bring criticism like it brought from Charles Barkley as well.

In fact, Barkley went to the extent of suggesting that the Wolves should bench Gobert. “Joker just throwing him around like a damn ragdoll… They are not worried about Gobert on the offensive end,” he said on TNT. Considering the extent of the overall criticism, it was bold of Johnson to stand for Gobert, that too with such a thin defense for his case.

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