After winning his record-tying fourth Defensive Player of the Year award this season, Rudy Gobert is going to go down as one of the best defenders in NBA history. He's helped take Minnesota from an average defense to by far the best in the league since getting traded from Utah, where he anchored similarly elite defenses.
None of that mattered in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals when Nikola Jokic reminded everyone why he is the best basketball player on the planet. Jokic poured in 40 points and 13 assists, many of them coming in one-on-one situations with Gobert.
Jokic's performance was a bat signal for Gobert haters. He received criticism from all corners, including long-time Gobert rival Draymond Green.
"You need to get a stop," Green said of Gobert on TNT's postgame show. "It's you my man that's getting cooked. There's no 'we.'"
Green's criticism couldn't be further off the mark. Jokic's success is way more about his brilliance than Gobert's failings. He has shown over and over that there is no defense for him.
MORE: There are no Nikola Jokic stoppers anymore
Nobody in NBA history could defend Nikola Jokic right now
If you look at the baskets that Jokic scored on Gobert, it is immediately evident that you are watching historical greatness. All Anthony Edwards could do was laugh.
"He was special tonight," Edwards said after the game. "I have to give him his flowers."
"I'm not even entirely sure what I just watched. It's ridiculous," teammate Aaron Gordon said.
Jokic's domination was not an example of Gobert getting beat off the dribble, failing to contest shots or any other bad defense. It was simply unbelievable shot-making on the level of prime Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and other legendary scorers of the game.
Look at the video. Gobert was right there. Jokic is just too good. pic.twitter.com/FjgShI9INQ
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) May 15, 2024
If his scoring wasn't enough, Jokic had passes that look routine for him but would rank among the best ever thrown in most players' careers.
This is not on Gobert. Jokic has done the same thing to three of the top four finishers in the Defensive Player of the Year voting over the Nuggets' past three playoff series.
| Defender | Points | Field Goal % | Assists | Turnovers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy Gobert (2024 2nd round) | 48 | 51.4% | 7 | 3 |
| Anthony Davis (2024 1st round) | 67 | 52.0% | 25 | 4 |
| Bam Adebayo (2023 Finals) | 67 | 56.5% | 21 | 7 |
As Sporting News contributor Daniel Olinger has pointed out, if we're judging defense by how well you stop Jokic, then there has never been a good defender in the history of the league. Bill Russell ain't stopping this guy. Hakeem Olajuwon, who the DPOY trophy is now named after, would be in shambles after Jokic used The Dream's own signature move on him.
"He's the one," Olajuwon said of Jokic in a Sports Illustrated interview last year.
The only success that teams have had in guarding Jokic has been to bring extra defenders at him. That comes at the cost of turning him into a passer, where his teammates can carve defenses apart.
The Wolves had success with that strategy in the first two games of this series. Karl-Anthony Towns stayed at home on Jokic, while Gobert played a roamer role.
That worked in large part because Jamal Murray looked like a shell of himself. Since falling to that 0-2 deficit, Murray has shot 50.0 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3 while averaging 19.7 points per game, making that strategy untenable.
The Nuggets have also built in some smart counters. They are using Gordon as a screener more to get Gobert switched onto Jokic. That removes the DPOY from a helper role and allows Jokic to go one-on-one.
Jokic is destroying that matchup, just as he has every other defender that the NBA has thrown at him. We are witnessing greatness that will be talked about decades from now. Framing it as a failing of someone else rather than his individual success gives short shrift to one of the most dominant players that the league has ever seen.
