Rudy Gobert Responds to Patrick Beverley's Criticism

In this story:
One of the most dominant rim protectors of all time, Rudy Gobert is undeniably great at what he does. His interior defense is arguably the best in the league; however, his defensive style is different from other prominent defenders. Unable to guard the perimeter, Gobert rarely defends the other team's best player. According to Patrick Beverley, that disqualifies him being the best defender in the NBA.
During an appearance on JJ Redick's podcast, Beverley asked how Rudy Gobert can be considered the league's best defender when he never guards the opponent's best player. In an interview with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks, Gobert responded to that question.
"You know me, I never complain for myself," Gobert said. "I think when you play the right way, your game always speaks for itself. And once again, we have a lot of ways of measuring someone's impact on the court nowadays, which I think is great. What I want people to understand about what I do on the court, is that I'm not just guarding one player. When I'm out there, my mindset is to guard the whole team."
Patrick Beverley asked “How is [Rudy Gobert] the best defensive player, and you don't guard the best offensive players?”
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) March 21, 2022
So I asked Rudy to answer that question.
In this clip, he goes in depth on his defensive impact and the perception.
Full episode: https://t.co/24wjy7oNmX pic.twitter.com/FT05NmdKqz
Gobert continued, saying that "I'm going out there thinking I got to guard this whole team... because at the end of the day, it's a team sport. You don't do anything on your own, so my goal is to communicate with my teammates and make sure that I have the most impact that I can on my team, and ultimately on the other team... My guy might score 30, I don't want that because I have pride obviously, but if my guy scores 30 and the other team scores 80 points, it's a big difference in the league."
According to Gobert, he is not concerned with what Patrick Beverley or anybody else has to say about his defense, because he knows what he provides.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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