Rudy Gobert’s postseason ‘tarnished’ Defensive Player of the Year award: Kendrick Perkins
NY Post
Kendrick Perkins wants his vote back.
The ex-NBA star and ESPN analyst said on Thursday’s edition of “First Take” that his vote for Rudy Gobert as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year has caused him embarrassment as the Timberwolves star has struggled in the postseason.
“I have the biggest regret in my media career, and … I’m retiring … from voting for individual regular season awards because I have done a disservice in using my voting rights,” Perkins said. “Me, voting this season, for Rudy Gobert is an embarrassment for me for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s the first player we see every single time in the postseason that becomes a defensive liability.”
Gobert won the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award by a landslide, with the Minnesota center getting 72 first-place votes, almost quadrupling Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama’s 19 votes, the second-highest total.
Gobert’s play has not withstood the playoff test, however.
Despite having a positive plus/minus in two of the three Western Conference Finals games against the Mavericks, Gobert was also put on skates and viciously taunted by Mavericks star Luka Doncic for a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2.
The first day of the rest of Daniel Jones’ dwindling time with the Giants arrived Wednesday, with Jones in the building, in the meetings, on the practice field (although not doing very much) and not at all part of the game plan for the next game, relegated to a non-participant role for the remainder of the season.