Draymond Begrudgingly Admits Gobert Will Be a Hall of Famer originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
As much as it cost him to do so, Warriors forward Draymond Green gave his flowers to Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.
Green has never been a big fan of Gobert’s play over the years, but recently admitted that French “isn’t rubbish” more before that declaring it “barbecue chicken” in their matchup against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.
It’s a complicated relationship.
Green once again admitted that Gobert deserves some praise in the latest episode of “The great podcast with Shaq,“, where he told Shaquille O’Neal that Gobert really deserved to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award in the 2023-24 NBA season.
“Defensive Player of the Year has historically been an award for someone who can get blocks, someone who can steal,” Green explained. “You look at those two things and think, ‘Oh, this guy blocks three shots a game, he’s Defensive Player of the Year because of the shots he’s blocking.’ I actually don’t agree with that.
“What I will say is this. I think Rudy Gobert is a lot better defensively now than he was years ago. This year was the first time I thought he really deserved to be Defensive Player of the Year.”
Green believes Gobert has stepped up his defensive game this season rather than previously being the beneficiary of more favorable assignments.
“And then this one, I really think he deserved it,” Green said. “The others? It was a matter of him blocking the weakside blocks, because it wasn’t like someone was posting up on him and he blocked a shot. No, it’s like you drive it, he comes from the weakside and blocks it. I think he won this year, but every other year I’ve been a little skeptical.”
Gobert is only the third player in NBA history to win four Defensive Player of the Year awards. The other two are Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, both of whom are inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
This begs the question: Does this make Gobert a Hall of Famer?
“It will be, because of a few things,” Green shared. “It will be because when you look at the Hall of Fame, it’s the basketball Hall of Fame, it’s not the NBA Hall of Fame. I think a lot of times we see some guys from Europe get into the Hall of Fame that we wouldn’t necessarily do. respect that guy is in the Hall of Fame on our terms. But it’s not necessarily. our Hall of Fame, is the basketball Hall of Fame.
“So I think he will come in. But is he a Hall of Famer in what we would consider a Hall of Famer?”
Green is willing to give credit where credit is due, but it’s clear he still puts an asterisk on Gobert’s overall resume.
