Rudy Gobert has a whopping four Defensive Player of the Year awards in the NBA. That is tied for the most in NBA history with the likes of Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo. Yet, many find it hard to accept that Gobert is an all-time great defender. His problems at the perimeter are usually cited as the reason for this argument. It seems like Portland Trail Blazers head coach, Chauncey Billups also has his reservations about Gobert’s defensive greatness.
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During his recent appearance on the SheedXTyler Show, Billups admitted that he just didn’t see Gobert as a major threat defensively.
The 47-year-old admitted that Gobert is a great defender at the rim and he plays hard. The Frenchman deserves a ton of credit for his work blocking key shots at the rim. However, Billups also pointed out that there were times when teams intentionally targeted him on the perimeter during big moments instead of avoiding him.
And this was not something Chauncey felt was representative of a good DPOY. He said,
“With Rudy [Gobert], you know, we attack him the whole series. And he is a great defensive player, don’t get me wrong. But you don’t just attack great defensive players! You’re going away from them!”
“So like, that’s the difference in today’s game, a little bit. Yeah, he’s great at the rim… But like in space, it’s trouble. And like pick and rolls, you can just go after him,” Billups added.
The Blazers coach does have a point. On too many big occasions, Gobert has proven to be a liability rather than an asset on defense.
He was famously targeted by Luka Doncic on the perimeter with the game on the line in the 2024 Western Conference Finals. And of course, he was barely given any playing time by France when they reached the knockout rounds of the 2024 Olympics.
None of this bodes well for Gobert. Perhaps back in the day, he would have been considered one of the greatest defenders in the league. After all, the game was very different back then, and rim pressure was everything.
But today, with so much of the offense taking place so far away from the basket, defenders need to be agile enough to affect opponents there as well. And if this continues to remain such a big weakness for Gobert, then perhaps, his credentials really do need to be called into question.
