Shaq doesn't think Rudy Gobert is a great defensive player. The numbers disagree

Gobert has the best individual defensive rating in the league at 104.2.

Rudy Gobert has won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and nearly every Vegas oddsmaker has him as the favorite to win his fourth this season.

Gobert’s consistently been one of the NBA’s best shot blockers and is widely respected as one of the best defenders in the league. A certain all-time great center, however, believes that Gobert is an overrated defender. That’s certainly a take.

“I never thought (Gobert) was a great defensive player either,” Shaquille O’Neil said on his “The Big Podcast” while discussing who should be Defensive Player of the Year. “See what it is is there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. Like, he’s not doing that (expletive) against (Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic) because he has to be engaged, but when he’s going against another guy — he’s 7-6, of course if you lay it up, he’s going to block it. 

"But defense to me is: ‘Guard that (expletive) and shut him down.’ You want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points. Now you’re playing D. All that weakside, blocking shot, that’s cool, but it ain’t going to work against guys like me and Joker and you know (Philadelphia 76ers center Joel) Embiid.”

First of all, Gobert is a mere 7-foot-1. Second of all, all the numbers disagree with Shaq. Gobert has an individual defensive rating of 104.2, which is easily the best in the league. Chicago Bulls center Andre Drummond has the second-best mark at 106.7, a whole 2.5 points higher than Gobert.

Meanwhile, Shaq picked Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo as his Defensive Player of the Year. Adebayo has a defensive rating of 110.0, nearly six points higher than Gobert. He has a slight edge on steals — 1.1 per game to Gobert’s 0.6 — but Gobert averages 2.1 blocks to Adebayo’s 0.9. But yes, Adebayo is the one who can sit down and guard.

As for the argument that Gobert can’t guard Jokic, the sample size is small. The two teams have met just once this season back on Nov. 1, a game in which Jokic had 25 points and 10 boards. Jokic had a good game, no doubt, but those numbers are below his season averages of 26.0 points and 12.3 rebounds. 

The Timberwolves also won that game 110-89.

It’s intriguing timing for Shaq’s wild take. The Timberwolves and Nuggets meet for the second time this season on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Target Center in Minneapolis. It’ll be a crucial game in the Western Conference standings. The Nuggets are currently atop the West, while the Wolves are third, however, are also just a game out of first.

A win may go a long way in determining the conference champion. If Gobert can limit Jokic and the Wolves can get a win, perhaps Shaq can finally admit that he is indeed a great defensive player. 

Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George (13) controls the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on March 12, 2024 :: Gary A. Vasquez / USA TODAY Sports