For the third time in four years, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is the Defensive Player of the Year.
The recognition for the 2020-21 season comes after the Frenchmen had also previously won it for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
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With this season's honours, the 7'1" center joins a short list of players in NBA history to have won the award at least three times.
Players with 3+ DPOY trophies:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 10, 2021
Dikembe Mutombo
Ben Wallace
Dwight Howard
Rudy Gobert pic.twitter.com/oB9MWaR9v6
From a pool of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, Gobert received 84 first-placed votes and earned a total of 464 points.
He was followed by Ben Simmons, the Aussie finishing second with 287 total points including 15 first-place votes, and former DPOY winner Draymond Green, who received 76 total votes for third.
Over the 72-game 2020-21 shortened NBA season, Gobert led the league in defensive rebounds per game (10.1), total defensive rebounds (720), total blocked shots (190) and ranked second in blocked shots per game (2.70). He averaged a double-double for the season with averages of 14.3 points and 13.5 rebounds in 71 appearances while shooting an NBA-high efficiency of 67.5 percent from the field.
He was a huge reason for the Jazz's third-best defensive rating of 107.5, which played a major role in propelling the team to a league-best record of 52-20.
Picked 27th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, Gobert has received All-NBA First Team selection in each of last four seasons.
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