"Most deserved"- 3x DPOY counters Kendrick Perkins' bold Rudy Gobert claim before admitting support for Victor Wembanyama

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard counters Kendrick Perkins' take about Rudy Gobert tarnishing the award. The ESPN analyst talked about regretting voting for the Minnesota Timberwolves center for the award. However, Howard comes to the Frenchman's aid on social media.

Gobert beat out San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo to win his fourth DPOY award. However, the defensive tenacity that the Wolves center displayed during the regular season hasn't been effective in the postseason. This has resulted in the star being criticized by the likes of Perkins.

Perkins admits he voted for Gobert and regrets doing so. According to him, he'll be retiring from voting for awards because of it. Howard went on X (formerly Twitter), to defend his fellow defensive big man.

"The DPOY did belong to someone from France & they still in France right now ! I do believe this was Rudy Gobert’s most deserved DPOY because this is the best defense I seen him play but I think fatigue is weighing down on him & Minnesota!" Howard posted on X.

After defending Gobert and saying that the center's fourth win was his most deserving, Howard mentioned he voted for Spurs rookie Wembanyama when it came to winning the DPOY, although it was close.

"For the record Wemby had my vote in just saying it was a toss up."

During the voting process, Gobert earned 72 first-place votes, 24 second-place votes and one third-place vote which totaled 433 votes. Wemby, on the other hand, had 19 first-place votes, 44 second-place votes and 18 third-place votes for a total of 245. Adebayo trailed the two Frenchmen in the voting process with 91 total votes.

Also read: "Give your trophies back" - Gilbert Arenas calls out Rudy Gobert's DPOY recognition amid Timberwolves defensive slump

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What did Perkins say about Rudy Gobert?

Each season, members of the media get a chance to vote to determine the individual winners. This includes the Most Valuable Player award, Rookie of the Year award and the DPOY. For Perk, he regrets voting for Rudy Gobert this season as he hasn't been effective in the postseason.

"I have the biggest regret in my media career, I'm retiring from voting for individual awards, regular season awards," Perk said. "Because I have done the disservice in using my voting rights."

Perk expressed that his decision to vote for Gobert was an embarrassment for him. He explained the trend that the defensive center tends to underperform, especially on the defensive end, during the postseason. The former NBA center also said that the Wolves center is not respected by his peers because of it.

Also read: "Going at that man every chance" - Josh Hart pities 4x DPOY Rudy Gobert as Mavs sophomore takes him on 1v1