After winning his third Defensive Player of the Year award last week, it was all but assured that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert would be named to the 2020-21 All-NBA Defensive First Team.
On Monday night it became official, as the NBA announced that Gobert was indeed selected to the team, alongside Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday.
This marks the fifth straight season that Gobert has earned All-NBA Defensive First Team honors, going back to 2017.
He has now been named Defensive Player of the Year in three seasons (2018, 2019 and 2021) and been a NBA All-Star twice (2020, 2021). Gobert was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2017 and to the All-NBA Third Team in 2019 and 2020.
Gobert led the NBA among qualified players in defensive rating (100.6) this season, as well as in defensive win shares (5.2) and defensive rebounds (10.1). He also led the NBA in +/- (+728) and total rebounds (960).
On the All-NBA Defensive Second Team were Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle, and the LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.