#1 Rudy Gobert – Utah Jazz
Rudy Gobert won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in back-to-back years during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, ultimately coming up short of winning the award for a third straight time last season, as he finished 3rd in the voting behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won the award, and Anthony Davis.
This year, Rudy Gobert seems like the clearcut favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award because of the defensive success he has had all season long. He is going to finish leading the league in blocked shots for the second-time in his career this year and assuming he is able to win the award this season, he will win his third Defensive Player of the Year award and third in the last four years!
Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Dwight Howard are the only players to win three Defensive Player of the Year Awards three times within a four year span and Gobert would join these three as the only players in NBA History to win the award three times.
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Rudy Gobert is one of the most dominant centers in the league and given his length and athleticism given that he stands about 7’1”, there is really no stopping Gobert from being the best defensive big man in the league until the day he retires!
Because of how good he has been in the paint this year, the Utah Jazz hold the best record in the NBA and have a chance to win the Western Conference regular season title for the first time since the 1997-98 season when they lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Could this be the year that the Utah Jazz finally make it back to the NBA Finals? With Gobert having one of the best defensive years of his career, it is a very strong possibility that Utah finds their way fighting for their first title in franchise history in this year’s NBA Finals!
