Fresh off the birth of his first child, Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert became the latest recipient of the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

After accepting the award on Tuesday, Gobert made a short statement that gave credit to the Timberwolves coaching staff.

“It’s great teamwork. We love to give individual awards and all of these things and that’s great but we can’t do it alone and I really have a lot of gratitude for Tim Connelly, Chris Finch, and all my teammates for believing in me, allowing me to do what I do best every day and just try to change the culture here in Minnesota.”

The Defensive Player of the Year award was really a two-horse race this year and Gobert led for most of the way through. His only challenger was rookie big man Victor Wembanyama, who was putting up historic numbers in his debut season.

Through 76 games, Gobert averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game on 66% shooting this season.

His impact around the rim was unmatched and his interior presence had the Wolves ranked as the best defense in the league. Gobert joins Hall of Famers Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only players in NBA history to earn the award four times.

After his failed stint with the Jazz alongside Donovan Mitchell, Gobert was traded to the Timberwolves with a lot of questions and doubts about his future. he was a frequent punching bag for critics and old-school players like Shaquille O’Neal, who constantly went off about his “overpriced” contract.

But with his resurgence this season, Gobert has proven everyone wrong and he might take it a step further by helping lead the Timberwolves on an unexpected championship run.

As a 4x Defensive Player of the Year now, his legacy is set as one of the best defenders ever and now all that’s left for him to do is translate the dominance to the post-season.

Minnesota Timberwolves Are The New Title Favorites

As the third seed in the West, it was no secret that the Timberwolves were a great basketball team.

But nobody expected this level of dominance from them so early on and the Nuggets certainly didn’t prepare for this kind of showing.

At 6-0, the Timberwolves are the only undefeated team left in these playoffs and they are coming off an impressive performance in game 2, where they dismantled the defending champions before our very eyes.

While the series is far from over, the Timberwolves seem to have the Nuggets on their heels right now and it’s not obvious how they can respond in a way that will turn the series around.

Leading the charge for Minnesota is young guard Anthony Edwards, who may have a case as the best player in the league after this post-season. Through his first five games, Edwards averaged 31.6 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds to make a statement in the West.

Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns has settled into his new role as Edwards’ main sidekick and he’s looking more comfortable than ever on the floor.

Between his shooting and his newfound commitment to defense, Towns has made the Wolves exceptionally hard to beat this year.

Of course, Rudy Gobert has been one of the team’s biggest difference-makers and his quest to change the culture of the franchise started since his arrival. Now, he’s finally seeing the fruits of his labor after working for so long.