Rudy Gobert was crowned ‘Best Defensive Player of the Year’ for the 4th consecutive time. In a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, Draymond Green and Shaquille O’Neal discussed the Minnesota Timberwolves Center’s defensive prowess, and Big Diesel had contentions with Gobert winning the title. The chat took a turn as Green passionately defended Gobert. His defensive take on the player comes as a surprise because, after the Wolves’ Game 7 win against the Nuggets, Green criticized him. He compared Gobert’s defense to a ‘cookie that crumbles’.

Shaq began the discussion by raising questions about Gobert’s efficiency, especially during the postseason. “It seems to me he has problems guarding people. Why does it seem like he has problems, especially in the post-season?” he said. However, Dray, known for his own defensive prowess, disagreed. He felt that Gobert had evolved as a defender.

“Rudy Gobert has gotten a lot better defensively now than what he was years ago. This year was actually the first time that I thought he actually deserved to win Defensive Player of the Year. All the things he never did, he was doing,” he said.

Green’s passionate defense of Gobert is confusing. Last week, Green had a lot to say about Gobert’s performance. While KAT handled Nikola Jokic, Gobert was relegated to Aaron Gardon. Dray did not agree with this decision at all. He said, “We sitting here breaking down KAT, having to stop Joker, who’s a center. And the defensive player of the year is on your team and he is the center. Very interesting how the cookie crumbles. Wow, unbelievable.” One can only wonder what caused Green’s drastic 180° switch-up about Rudy Gobert.

Rudy Gobert has now won the Best Defensive Player title four times, that too back-to-back. Does Rudy have the stats deserving of the title or is Shaq correct about the holes in his defense? Amid all the chaos, these two veterans took their conversation a notch higher.

Rudy Gobert, Hall of Famer?

The conversation took an unexpected turn as Shaq posed the question of Gobert’s shot at the Hall of Fame legacy.“Dikembe Mutombo, four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Hall of Famer. Ben Wallace, four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Hall of Famer. Does this make Rudy Gobert a Hall of Famer?” asked Shaq. Clearly, he was highly skeptical. But Green once again jumped to Rudy’s defense. “It will,” he said confidently, to which Shaq was taken aback. Does Gobert deserve HoF status?

This season, Gobert has averaged 12.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists and is ranked 6th on the most rebounds. Shaq argued that his performance was weaker in the post-season. Even though his playoff stats are lower than his regular season stats, it is important to note that the competition between the two is incomparable.

The playoffs are highly competitive and the best players of the league are pitted against each other. A comparison in this scenario may not be fair.

Gobert and his defensive skills place Minnesota 4th for the best defense statistics. The team has a current defense rating of 107.6, a defense rebound average of 33.3, 7.3 steals, and 4.7 blocks. So, the question after this is- will Gobert keep evolving as a player and find his way into HoF legacy or will Shaq prove to be right?