Rudy Gobert Addresses ‘Disrespect’ Following Defensive Player of the Year Snub

Gobert shut down Nikola Jokić hours after finishing fourth in DPOY voting.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert shut down Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in Game 2, hours after being snubbed for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Rudy Gobert is not taking his snub lying down.

On Monday night, the Timberwolves center set out to prove he had been snubbed in 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year voting, before later airing his feelings about what he viewed as disrespect.

In Minnesota’s 119-114 win over the Nuggets in Game 2 of the pair's first-round playoff series, Gobert came up huge. In the closing minutes, he had three one-on-one stops against three-time MVP Nikola Jokić. In the end, Jokić made just one of eight shots with Gobert guarding him. It was the worst shooting performance against a single defender in Jokić's playoff career.

Gobert dealt with foul trouble in the third quarter as he picked up his fourth with 7:09 remaining. Jokić scored 14 of his 24 points in the final seven minutes of the period with Gobert out.

That all came hours after Spurs star center Victory Wembanyama was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the first unanimous vote in the award's history. Despite a long history of being one of the league’s top defenders, Gobert finished a distant fourth. Thunder center Chet Homgren wound up second, while Pistons wing Ausar Thompson was third.

Asked later how he was able to contain Jokić, Gobert said, "I was lucky. A top-three defender cannot do that. So I was lucky."

Then, he got more pointed with his criticism.

“Not the first time I’ve been disrespected. Probably not the last,” Gobert said. “If you want to disrespect greatness, take it for granted. Whatever, soon they’ll realize the impact.”

If Gobert is that motivated, the Wolves might have a great shot in this series as it moves to Minnesota. The 33-year-old played 28 minutes and scored just two points to go along with seven rebounds, one assist and two steals, but his impact was undeniable.

Gobert vs. Jokić is shaping up to be a must-watch battle as this series progresses.

2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting

Gobert finished fourth in DPOY voting, behind three players he clearly believes he has an argument against.

Wembanyama received all 100 first-place votes, while Holmgren finished second with 76 second-place votes and 11 for third. Thompson finished in third place after receiving nine second-place votes and 33 for third. Gobert’s four second-place votes and 29 third-place votes earned him 41 total points and saw him finish in fourth.

The top five is below.

PLAYER	1st	2nd	3rd	Total Points
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs	100	0	0	500
Chet Holmgren, Thunder	0	76	11	239
Ausar Thompson, Pistons	0	9	33	60
Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves	0	4	29	41
Scottie Barnes, Raptors	0	3	12	21

That’s a big gap between Holmgren's 239 points and Thompson and Gobert's 60 and 41-point finishes, respectively.

Rudy Gobert awards history

Gobert is one of the best defensive players in league history. He has won NBA Defensive Player of the Year a record-tying four times, locking up the honor in 2018, '19, '21 and '24. Only Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo have won it that many times.

While he’s only been an All-Star three times, Gobert has been named to an All-NBA team four times—he earned second-team honors in 2017, and was named to the third team in ‘19, ‘20 and ‘21. On top of that, he has been named first team All-Defense seven times (2017-‘22, and ‘24), and was named to the second team last season.

There’s no doubt he’s one of the best defenders in NBA history. On Monday night, he proved that is still the case.

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