Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert won the NBA Defending Best Player of the Year award

Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert took back the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award on Wednesday night, making him the fourth player to be named the league’s best defender at least three times in his career.

Gobert, who won the award in 2018 and 19 before Giannis Antetokounmpo won it last year, earned 84 out of 100 in first place and finished 464 points. Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (15th place, 287 points) and the Golden State Warriors ahead Draymond Green (76 points in total) placed second and third.

Miami Heat Center Bam Adebayo finished fourth and got the rest in first place.

Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Dwight Howard are the only players to have won the Defensive Player Award for at least three years. Mutombo and Wallace each won four times and Howard three.

Utah began its rise as one of the elite teams in the West several years ago, building a team full of defensive players around the special expertise of a massive 7-foot-1 center. However, the Jazz has risen more to Gobert to keep the team’s defense at the elite level as there are more first-time players on the current list. He is successful when the Jazz finished the season fourth in the league with an attack, third in defense and best net rating (9 points / 100 possessions) by almost three points over his nearest competitor (LA Clippers, 6.1).

Simmons, one of the league’s most versatile defenders, helped lead the league’s second-best defense with his 6-foot 10 hull and impressive athletic talents, which in turn helped Philadelphia get to the top of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Green, on the other hand, proved more and more than capable of making a significant defensive impact after leading the Warriors to the NBA’s fifth-best defensive class during the regular season – not to mention defending a great job in Golden State. The Los Angeles Lakers in last week’s seventh play-in tournament game.

The NBA has already announced that the Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson had won the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award, New York Knicks striker Julius Randle was named best player, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is Jee and Denver Nuggets center coach Nikola Jokic is the most valuable player in the league.

The Rookie, All-Rookie, All-Defensive and All-NBA teams of the year are still left.

As last year, the NBA has returned to the traditional use of its awards in the playoffs instead of having a large awards show at the end of the post season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.