Despite his defensive excellence, I never thought winning a record-breaking fifth Defensive Player of the Year was truly in the cards for Rudy Gobert. That was until Victor Wembanyama went down with a calf injury. Wemby is now just five games away from being ineligible for awards, and the DPOY race is wide-open.
While winning a fifth DPOY might be tricky for Gobert, given the concept of voter fatigue, there's no denying he has a clear case. After a statement performance in an 11-point win over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch praised Gobert's recent DPOY-level play.