It's time to stop the Rudy Gobert hate. With Wemby's 65-game eligibility hanging by a thread (he has just three missed games left for the rest of the season), the DPOY race is Rudy's to lose. And the history books are about to be rewritten. If Rudy secures the hardware this season, he'll become the FIRST player in NBA history to win five Defensive Player of the Year awards. Imagine a world where you move past Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the greatest defensive anchor to ever live... The stats in 2025-26 are absolutely absurd: 🚫 He is allowing just 48.2% opponent FG at the rim. That's good for No. 2 in the NBA among players with 25+ games. 📉 The Wolves boast a 108.1 Defensive Rating with Rudy on the floor (2nd in the NBA). When he sits, that number craters to 121.2 (29th in the NBA). 📊 Rudy is currently 3rd in total blocks (62, 1.7 per game) and leads the NBA in total rebounds (415, 11.2 per game). But forget about the stats for a second. Rudy also passes the eye test in a way that most fans finally have to admit. While people love to post the one time he gets cooked on a switch, they ignore the 50 times a game where an elite guard drives, sees him and simply nopes out of the lane. His highlights are quiet, and his mistakes are loud, but Rudy's heard it all at this point. The only obstacle? Voter fatigue. But the tape and the data don't lie. It's time to admit we aren't just watching a Mount Rushmore defender anymore. We might be watching the actual defensive GOAT.