Rudy Gobert was 2-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year but, despite this, Shaquille O’Neal does not think he is such a good defender.
“I never thought he was a great defender. The thing is, there aren’t many centers that play him defensively. He can’t hold Joker because he has to work too hard. But when he’s up against another player, he’s 7 feet tall, it’s obvious that if you put him down, he’s going to block him.”, Shaq said. “For me, defense is, ‘guard the[bleep]man, stop him.’ You want to impress me? Keep Joker under 15 points. Now you’re playing. All that blocking shots from the weak side is nice, but it doesn’t work against guys like me, Joker and Embiid.”, the Hall of Famer explained.
According to O’Neal, the best defender in the NBA must be able to tackle multiple positions and do so effectively. For this reason, he would also award the DPOY trophy to Adebayo.
“Bam plays with teammates. Bam plays 2, 3, 4 and 5. I would give it to him.”, Shaquille O’Neal said when talking about Bam Adebayo and comparing him to Rudy Gobert.
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