Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert has seemingly received as much flak as any NBA star of late. In the last year alone, Draymond Green said on national television that the four-time Defensive Player of the Year “sucks,” and Shaquille O’Neal called him the worst NBA player of all time.
But Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo is one person associated with the NBA who is high on Gobert and what he brings to the table. He recently gushed about the 32-year-old’s defensive chops as well as his work ethic.
“You don’t know Rudy until you play with him,” DiVincenzo said of his teammate. “Rudy is the anchor of our defense, and a lot of stuff revolves around Rudy. But to your point about the approach, Rudy’s approach is unmatched — daily. To his body, to gettin’ ready for a game — so it’s really cool to see that. And then being on the court with him, you don’t realize how big he is. I threw a couple lobs to him already early in the season. I’m like, ‘There’s no way he’s going to catch it’ and goes and brings it down.”
DiVincenzo was traded to the Timberwolves along with Julius Randle prior to the start of the campaign in a trade that sent Karl Anthony-Towns to the New York Knicks.
After he was one of the better 3-point shooters in the NBA with New York a season ago, he has yet to find his shooting touch with his new team, considering he has converted just 32.3 percent of his 3s across 14 games played so far this season. DiVincenzo has also seen a reduction in his role compared to his one season with the Knicks, as he has yet to start a game for Minnesota after he logged 63 starts in the 2023-24 campaign.
While he’s still been quite effective on the less glamorous end of the floor, Gobert hasn’t built a compelling case thus far to earn his fifth Defensive Player of the Year award, which would mark the most won by a single player in the history of the league. To this point, Minnesota has seen its defensive effectiveness take a step back compared to last season.
The Timberwolves ranked tops in the league in defensive rating in the 2023-24 regular season, but the team currently ranks in the middle of the pack in that statistic at 12th. Even teams such as the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat — both of whom are below the .500 mark — boast superior defensive ratings.
On top of that, Gobert is averaging just 1.6 blocks per game in his third year in Minnesota. He swatted 2.1 shots per contest when he won the Defensive Player of the Year award a season ago.
