The NBA released its 2024 Eastern and Western Conferences All-Star reserves on Thursday. The league announced the starters on January 25, and the starters’ voting comprises 50% fan voting, 25% players, and 25% a media panel. However, only the coaches decide the reserves by voting for players in their conference.
There are only 14 spots off the bench in the All-Star game, seven per conference. So naturally, there will always be players who believe they got snubbed. In the NBA’s defense, it’s impossible to award every player who has been playing at an All-Star level, given the All-Star roster sizes. Fans and players go into February every year with that knowledge, but they still feel disappointed not to see certain players heading to All-Star weekend.
About seven hours before the announcement, a reporter asked Anthony Edwards about his views on the reserves and if the Minnesota Timberwolves deserve three All-Stars.
“I can give two f—s, but I want Rudy to make it for sure,” he said. “Last year, didn’t Memphis have two players, and they were the No. 2 seed, right? It’s only right that we should have one more player because we are the No. 1 seed.”
Edwards’ logic made sense. However, his hopes didn’t come true. He and Karl-Anthony Towns were the only two Wolves named as All-Star reserves in the West.
Despite Minnesota’s West-best 34-14 record, it felt uncertain that they’d get to send three players to Indianapolis. After all, the Timberwolves have had three All-Stars in the same season only five times in franchise history. It felt like only one of Rudy Gobert or Towns would join Ant in Indy. While KAT’s selection is deserved, analytically, it’s hard to make a case against the Stifle Tower making his fourth All-Star appearance.
The Timberwolves have been the best defensive team in the league this season. Their defensive rating is 108.6, 2.2 points lower than the next closest team. The Wolves have also held opponents under 95 points ten times, which is also the best in the NBA. They’ve vaulted to the top of the standings by playing stingy defense every night. But Minnesota has had the league’s 19th-best offense. Still, Chris Finch’s squad has turned in a sixth-highest net rating because of their defense.
Every coach will tell you that defense is a team game. While that cliché has withstood the test of time, having one or maybe even two great defenders on a team will lead to better team defense. In my eyes, being a great individual defender is 25% skill and 75% will. One may have the physical tools to be stifling on defense. But if they don’t want to be the best defender on the floor, they often won’t.
Gobert has a 7’1” frame equipped with a 7’9” wingspan. He not only has a natural ability to defend, but he also prides himself on that end of the floor. Couple that with being fully healthy, and you have the recipe for the best defender currently walking the globe. The player who is anchoring the best defensive team in the NBA that isn’t headed to Indy.
Here are some defensive stats that illustrate how vital the Stifle Tower has been to his team this season:
- MIN’s defensive rating (DRTG) w/ Gobert on: 108.3 (1st percentile)
- MIN’s DRTG w/ Gobert off: 112.5
- Gobert’s block percentage: 3.2% (90th percentile)
- Gobert’s blocks per game: 2.1 (8th highest)
- Opponent rim percentage differential w/ Gobert on: -4.8% (89th percentile)
- Opponent effective field goal percentage differential w/ Gobert on: -2.8% (89th percentile)
- Opponent shots at rim frequency w/ Gobert on: -6.3% (100th percentile)
If you have tuned into any Wolves games this season and paid attention to Gobert, you would likely conclude that he’s an incredible paint defender. You’ll hear Wolves fans react exuberantly when he rejects a shot into the fifth row, but players aren’t attempting as many shots with Rudy lurking in the paint, which is arguably his best trait on defense.
That’s the “Never Mind” epidemic Kyle Theige coined.
Gobert isn’t only a paint defender anymore, though. In the past, he was a liability when roaming outside of the paint, especially in one-on-one situations. When he coached the Utah Jazz, Quin Synder implemented the “spy-Rudy” concept. Gobert probed in the paint while matched against the opposing team’s worst three-point shooter. That was theoretically a good idea until Terrence Mann – who Gobert matched up against – sent the Jazz home in the 2021 Playoffs after he caught fire from three while being wide-open pretty much the entire game.
But the Stifle Tower is mobile this season. He’s involved in cross-matching and switching situations frequently. Gobert holds his own when he steps out of the paint to defend a perimeter player, and he usually comes up with a stop following impressive on-ball defense despite his 7-foot frame and size 20 shoes.
Rudy’s fingerprints are all over Minnesota’s success, especially on the defensive end. He’s in line to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, which would tie him for the most DPOY awards in NBA history. You may wonder why he isn’t heading to his fourth All-Star game. But looking back at his stats at the All-Star break of each season, he was awarded an All-Star invitation, which helps explain the snub.
With seven games left until the All-Star break, Gobert is averaging 13.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks on 63.9% from the floor in 47 out of 48 total games. Those numbers are similar to all of his career All-Star selections but are just below his average.
Is that slight downtick in averages enough to bump the Stifle Tower off of the All-Star ballot? Probably not. However, individual talent in the NBA continues to improve yearly, and there are only seven reserve spots in each conference. While it’s difficult to make a case that Gobert didn’t deserve to make the All-Star game, it’s equally challenging to say that he should have been selected over anyone who made the team.
Towns was the borderline selection in the West. You could argue that Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, or Gobert should have been selected over him. However, it makes sense why the NBA put him over those players. On the best team in the West, KAT averages 22.7 points on nearly 50/40/90 splits. It felt given that the Wolves would have two players in the All-Star Game, three felt unlikely. The coaches voted Towns to accompany Ant, but it may have been a toss-up between him and Gobert.
If an opportunity arises, Rudy could still be named as an injury replacement in the West, but I imagine Sabonis or Fox would get the call before him.
These are good problems to have, though. Multiple Timberwolves being named All-Stars in the same season has happened just five times in 35 years. However, individual accolades only mean so much. Contending teams can’t get caught up in mid-season awards. Gobert and the rest of the team must set their sights higher. Snubs can motivate players, but postseason success will define this season as a success or a disappointment for the Timberwolves.
