'Simmons Gets Disrespected Way Too Much': Utah's Rudy Gobert Wins NBA Defensive Player Of Year Over Ben Simmons
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Trae Young might be in trouble on Friday night. Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert won his third Defensive Player of the Year award Wednesday, beating out the Sixers' Ben Simmons and Golden State's Draymond Green. Gobert helped the Jazz to the best record in the NBA.
Gobert had the most total blocked shots and defensive rebounds in the league this season and became the fourth player to win the award at least three times. A night after a game-sealing blocked shot in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, Gobert received 84 first-place votes and 464 points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Simmons was second with 15 first-place votes and 287 points, while Green was third with 76 points.
Gobert was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace each won it four times and Dwight Howard three.
This comes after Denver's Nikola Jokic beat out Joel Embiid for the NBA MVP.
For what it's worth, Simmons scored a career-high 42 points against Gobert and the Jazz in February.
Sixers Twitter wasn't too pleased with Gobert edging Simmons.
A general consensus among Sixers fans is that Simmons should use this as extra motivation.
After his forgetful Game 1 performance against the Wizards where he scored just six points, including 0 for 6 from the free-throw line, Simmons exploded with a 22-point game with nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
If he does that again after this, Young may be in for a tough night on Friday night in Game 3.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
