Rudy Gobert Voted Most Overrated Player In NBA By His Peers

The Athletic polled anonymous NBA players. 81 votes were cast for the most overrated player and Gobert received 13.6% of the votes. 

“There’s just something about Gobert’s game that his peers don’t like,” The Athletic wrote. “Maybe the skepticism stems from a lack of playoff success, as none of Gobert’s teams have advanced to the conference finals. Or maybe it all traces back to the bubble in 2020 when the Clippers’ Terance Mann buried all those 3s over Gobert in the West semifinals and sparked serious scrutiny about the perceived limitations of the big man’s game.

“Gobert has the elite résumé, though, with the three DPOY awards, three All-Star appearances, an All-NBA Second Team selection and three All-NBA Third Team nods. He has the receipts from this season, as he was the indisputable anchor of a Minnesota defense that was the best in the league while Gobert finished second in rebounds (12.9) and sixth in blocks (2.1) on a team that came just two wins shy of earning the No. 1 seed in the West (it finished third). And as our resident Timberwolves expert Jon Krawczynski wrote in January, the truth about those Jazz teams was that their lack of perimeter defense was the real problem that was exposed in those playoffs. These Timberwolves don’t have that deficiency.

“Still, Gobert joins Draymond Green (2019) and Trae Young (2023) as the latest winner of this undesirable award.”

Gobert averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.1 blocks for the Timberwolves this season while shooting 66.1% from the field and 63.8% from the free-throw line. He was second in the NBA in rebounds, second in rebounds per game, fifth in blocks and sixth in blocks per game. 

Gobert has career averages of 12.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.1 blocks with the Utah Jazz and Timberwolves. He’s made three All-Star teams, four All-NBA teams and six All-Defensive teams. 

Gobert has won the Defensive Player of the Year Award three times.