When we talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards is the only person in mind. But if you look beyond, you’ll find the 4-time DPOY, Rudy Gobert, breathing down your neck. The French phenom doesn’t play it light. Because when the rest of the league thought Nikola Jokic was unstoppable, the 33-year-old took it personally, stood his ground, and turned it into something far more than just another matchup.

Rudy Gobert locked in, delivering three cold one-on-one stops when it mattered most. And suddenly, the Wolves walked away with a 119-114 win over the Denver Nuggets. Thus, leveling the playoff series at 1-1. Meanwhile, Jokic stumbled to 1-8 shooting, his worst playoff showing against a single defender with at least six attempts.

“I was lucky,” Gobert stated. “A top-three defender cannot do that. So I was lucky.” The Wolves center has clearly taken it personally. In the DPOY race, he found himself trailing Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, a result that did not sit right with the veteran anchor.

Now, Victor Wembanyama took every vote home. The San Antonio Spurs superstar swept all 100 first-place votes, leaving no room for debate. Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert’s case barely registered, with only four second-place votes and 29 third-place nods, while 67 ballots left him out entirely, pushing him down to a fourth-place finish overall. “Not the first time I’ve gotten disrespected,” he said. “Probably not the last. If you want to disrespect greatness, take it for granted, whatever, soon they’ll realize the impact.”

Nikola Jokic opened in an unusual haze for the second straight game. For the first eight minutes, he never even looked at the rim, then followed it up by airballing two jumpers. By the end of the quarter, he sat at 1-of-7 from three, searching for rhythm while Minnesota held firm and Rudy Gobert anchored the resistance early. However, Q3 changed the story.

Gobert picked up his fourth foul at 7:09 and had to sit, and that changed everything. Jokic pounced, pouring in 14 of his 24 points in the final seven minutes, picking apart Naz Reid and Julius Randle inside. As a result, Denver carried a three-point lead into the fourth, just as Anthony Edwards pulled Gobert aside during the huddle, setting the stage.

Ant told the media, “I told him [Rudy Gobert] we ain’t bringing no double team. You gonna guard [Jokic] one-on-one. Stop fouling. Stop going for the reach-in. Because he’s going to flop. They’re going to call the foul. Play him straight up.”

As the game tightened, the Minnesota Timberwolves turned ruthless. Rudy Gobert stayed glued to Nikola Jokic, forcing three huge misses, while Jamal Murray lost his touch, bricking his last four shots across the final four minutes. Even his pull-up with 11 seconds left fell flat, and that was that for Denver. So when Gobert’s DPOY snub came up, Chris Finch was never going to stay quiet.

Chris Finch clapped back at Rudy Gobert’s DPOY snub

“It’s a joke that he wasn’t on the finalists for the defensive player of the year,” Chris Finch said. “I thought it was incredibly disrespectful.” He added, “When Rudy’s all by himself, he’s usually a top-five defense in the league.” The 33-year-old star has a defensive rating of 103.1 in his career. Moreover, he had a defensive rating of 110.1 this season. Therefore, Finch went on.

“If we didn’t have some fouling issues and we didn’t have some rebounding issues, our defense would easily be there. We feel we let Rudy down in that way,” he said. “But he’s an outstanding defender, he’s an outstanding professional, he’s an outstanding human, he’s about the right things. It’s just laughable and small-minded and petty, all the crap that people decide to give Rudy.”

Around the league, the noise never stops around Rudy Gobert. Fans poke at his offense, replay awkward moments, and even a legendary center keeps a strange, open dislike alive. However, inside Minnesota, the truth lands differently. Teammates and Chris Finch see the nightly wall at the rim, the fear he creates, and the impact since Tim Connelly’s July 2022 move. Across four years, one stat screams loudest: nobody allowed fewer isolation points.

“We’re half the team when (Gobert’s) on the bench,” Anthony Edwards said of Rudy. “They don’t understand what he means to us when he’s on the floor. People don’t want to lay the ball up around him. They don’t want to go at Rudy.”

This was a statement, clear and sharp. Rudy Gobert answered every doubt with control and presence when it mattered most. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves stood firm behind him, fully aware of what he brings every night. The noise outside can grow louder, inside that locker room, belief is locked in. And eventually, the league will have to catch up amidst the DPOY letdown.