Shaq has said it. Others NBA players have backed him up. Other so-called experts of the game have all said that Rudy Gobert is an overrated defensive player.
Despite winning four Defensive Player of the Year awards, Gobert has been exposed as he’s traveled deeper into the playoffs for the first time in his career and played more formidable competition consistently.
From Game 2 of the Denver Nuggets series when Gobert made the personal decision to ditch the game to be present for the birth of his son, the highly-touted defensive player has not been locked in.
His performance in these Western Conference finals, where his team finds itself down 3-0, has sunk his reputation further, and now the same media types who voted him Defensive Player of the Year are seriously regretting it.
Kendrick Perkins Regrets Voting For Rudy Gobert For Defensive Player of the Year
In fact, ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins says that the “biggest regret of his media career” was voting Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year this season.
Perk was on “First Take” with Udonis Haslem and Shannon Sharpe airing Gobert out something terrible.
“He has tarnished the Defensive Player of the Year award. He is not respected by his peers,” Perk ranted.
“Molly,” Perk said, “I’m retiring from voting for individual regular season awards because I have done a disservice using my voting rights.”
There were plenty of media who jumped on the Anthony Edwards bandwagon, referencing Michael Jordan when discussing the 22-year-old’s playoff exploits up to this point. Edwards’ play was at such a high level and the role players were doing so well that Gobert’s decreased production in points, rebounds and blocks kind of flew by the radar.
Karl-Anthony Towns is only giving 15 points per game in this series. This series, the self-proclaimed “greatest shooting big in NBA history” has been in an historic shooting slump shooting 28 percent from the field and 14 percent from three. So naturally, with so many supporting pieces falling short, Ant-Man hasn’t been as dominant in the conference finals. The blame and hot seat has switched to the $200 million defensive force, who has not impacted the game or done anything to help slow Luka and Kyrie.
“Me voting for Rudy Gobert is an embarrassment for me for Defensive POY,” Perk lamented. “He’s the first player we’ve seen that every single time in the postseason becomes a defensive liability.”
Kendrick Perkins Says Rudy Gobert Has Tarnished DPOY Award
According to the numbers, Gobert is an elite defensive player.
“Don’t come giving me these analytics.” Perk said. “Don’t come giving me these plus-minus stats. Because that’s the most overrated stats in the NBA. When I look at Rudy he has tarnished the Defensive POY award.”
“He’s not respected by his peers. In the Denver series he couldn’t even guard the person at his position.
“What is he doing right now? Do we realize Rudy has three blocks in three games? He’s averaging one block a game at 7-foot-3. It’s unacceptable to say he’s the Defensive Player of the Year.”
Gobert is taking some flak for his team’s shortcomings, and it’s well-deserved. Gobert said back in January when he was being lauded for his impact on the defense that he acknowledged it as the key to his team’s success.
“We’re able to understand what puts us in position to win,” Gobert told reporters. “How many games our defense won this year when we weren’t able to make shots and struggled a bit offensively. If we’re going to get where we want, that’s something we need.”
“It’s amazing when you feel that your work is paying off,” he added. “All the things we have been through, all the drills, all of it paying off on the floor. All this work is not going down the drain.”
A season with championship promise is now going down the drain and according to Perk it’s because everyone overrated the impact Gobert truly had on the game.
The truth is probably somewhere in between, but either way, Gobert’s failure will be a narrative that will haunt him into next season.
