Rudy Gobert watched Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals in his home with his newborn baby, Romeo, in his arms Monday evening.
And he watched it with a smile.
Because while the first-time father obviously wanted to be on the floor with his teammates in Denver, he was also like a proud papa watching his Timberwolves teammates bring the type of defensive effort they’d seen him demonstrate all season.
“I had a little emotion at the end, because it felt like it was something special,” Gobert said. “The energy, the focus that they had, the determination, I don’t know, there was something special in the way they came out. They came out to play 48 minutes. It was an incredible day. It was an incredible way to end the day for me.”
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is joined by all of his teammates at his Defensive Player of the Year press conference at Target Center on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Jace Frederick / Pioneer Press)
It was that effort and domination shown by the Wolves on Monday that not only led to Gobert winning his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award this week, but also Minnesota to the league’s top defense by a wide margin.
“Rudy’s driven the defensive culture here,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
Defensive culture is cemented through consistent repetitions of energy and execution. Those are Gobert’s calling cards. Finch noted he’s a “top-five defense all by himself.” But Minnesota reached a different stratosphere this season by mimicking what its star center did every night on that end of the floor and buying into that as the team’s identity.
Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert said, is a team award — and the Wolves won it.
“It’s about being the best defense we can be,” Gobert said. “For me, it’s about impacting my team to be the best defense we can be. I wouldn’t be able to do it without coaching staff, players, my family and everyone around me. I’m really grateful for that.”
He’s grateful for many things in Minnesota — one of which is belief.
At his award press conference Wednesday morning in the Target Center atrium, the big man was flanked by basketball boss Tim Connelly. It was the exact same setup used for his introductory press conference after the mega trade 22 months prior.
Since then, there have been ups and downs. Gobert noted Connelly brought him to Minnesota with the intent to win a championship. The 2022-23 season’s results suggested that was not in the cards. Gobert clearly wasn’t himself, and both player and team struggled to acclimate to one another.
“But we kept fighting, we kept getting better every single day through adversity,” Gobert said. “From Day 1, I felt some love from everyone in this organization embracing me. And when things didn’t go as smoothly as we wanted them to last year, they never doubted me. They have shown me love every day, pushing me to be better every day, and I really appreciate that.”
Primarily, Connelly and Finch never doubted him. The two leaders of the organization essentially made a pact prior to making the trade that they would have patience when it came to the big-ball experiment. As Finch noted, there was no Plan B. They believed in Rudy Gobert, and they believed their roster construction could work.
The gamble paid off handsomely. They’ve been proven right on all accounts. And Gobert is a major reason why.
After a year in which he did not look like himself, the 7-foot-1 Frenchman has returned to his previous form, and perhaps even exceeded it.
“He’s really improved himself. Guys said he can’t switch on guys and guard ‘em, guard smaller players, and he’s done that this season,” Wolves forward Kyle Anderson said. “So it’s really special, really well-deserved. I think this was his best one.”
Gobert noted he’s continued to improve as a player and to adapt to an ever-evolving league. But he’s most proud of the way he’s grown as a leader.
“Being able to lead my teammates even better, be able to communicate better with them, and have an amazing amount of understanding between each other,” Gobert said.
That’s an ability born out of comfort. There’s a lot of that between the big man and his teammates, this team and this state. “RUUUUU” commonly echoes through Target Center as fans celebrate his blocked shots. Wolves guard Anthony Edwards expresses his admiration by shouting out “Big RU GO-BRR.”
Spanning the Target Center exterior Wednesday morning was a virtual banner honoring the big man’s latest achievement. Karl-Anthony Towns was at Gobert’s home Tuesday evening when Gobert officially received the honor. All of Gobert’s teammates were in attendance at his press conference Wednesday to celebrate.
“I think I’ve found a home. I’ve found a team, a coaching staff, an organization and a city that has embraced me, and a group that has embraced me. I feel like it’s like a family,” Gobert said. “We are there for each other. We really care about one another. We all want to see each other shine. We all want to see each other prosper, whether it’s family, whether it’s everything outside of basketball. It’s a lot of love. It’s really fun to be a part of something like this. Everyone is on the same page, and everyone is trying to give everything that they have towards one goal. It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of. Every day when I wake up, I’m really grateful to be a part of something like this.”
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