The 29-year-old tricolor international pivot is in this selection for the sixth time in a row.
It has become a habit, but it should not be trivialized. As in the past five years, Rudy Gobert was selected in the defensive top five of the 2021-22 NBA season. If he was beaten by Celtic Defender of the Year winner Marcus Smart (198 points), voted 99 out of 100 in favor of inclusion in the first five, and by the back from Phoenix Mikal Bridges (195), the French international pivot of Jazz collected 171 points in total (76 first five, 19 for the second). Giannis Antetoukounmpo (Milwaukee, 156) and Jaren Jackson Jr (Memphis, 153) complete this defensive top five, while Bam Adebayo (Miami), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee), Mattis Thybulle (Philadelphia), Robert Wiliams (Boston) and Draymond Green (Golden State) make up the second.
Three-time NBA Best Defenseman Gobert, 29, finished the regular season leading the league in rebounds (14.7/game) and third in blocks (2.1), averaging 15.6 points in prime. Leaving for the next EuroBasket with the France team, he saw the season of his club, Utah, end prematurely, with an exit from the track in the first round of the play-offs against Dallas.