Gobert knows in due time, people will respect him.
The Minnesota Timberwolves flipped the series on Monday night in Denver, grabbing a 119-114 win in Game 2 to knot things up at one game apiece.
The headline belonged to Rudy Gobert, not because of the box score but because of who he shut down.
On the same day the league finalized Defensive Player of the Year voting and left his name out of the top three, Gobert turned around and smothered Nikola Jokić in crunch time, holding the three-time MVP to 1-of-8 shooting when they matched up one-on-one.
That's the worst shooting performance in Jokić's playoff career against a single defender.
Answering the Snub
After the game, Gobert didn't dance around how he felt.
"I know who I am. It's not the first time I get disrespected, probably not the last. But you know, I'm going to keep being myself. If they want to disrespect greatness, they can just take it for granted. Sooner or later, they'll realize the impact."
He finished fourth in DPOY voting, behind unanimous winner Victor Wembanyama, along with Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson.
Gobert picked up just four second-place votes and got left off 67 ballots completely, which is a strange look for a four-time winner of the award.
Why the Voters Moved On
Some of the snub traces back to Minnesota's uneven year.
The Wolves finished 49-33 and slid into the 6-seed, a step back from last season's run to the conference finals.
Wembanyama put together one of the best defensive campaigns in recent memory, Holmgren anchored an Oklahoma City defense that led the league, and Thompson became the backbone of Detroit's identity in a stacked field.
Gobert's regular season line was solid if not flashy, with averages of 10.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
What he really does, though, doesn't fit neatly on a stat sheet, because guys stop driving when he's in the paint, shots get altered at the rim, and lanes close before they even open.
The Jokić Problem
Denver opened Game 2 on a tear, grabbing a 19-point lead behind hot shooting from Jamal Murray and a first half where Jokić set up his teammates and let the offense come to him.
Minnesota clawed back, though, and by the fourth quarter, Gobert was the reason Denver's offense went quiet.
Anthony Edwards pulled him aside before the final frame and told him to stop reaching and play Jokić straight up, and Gobert did exactly that, getting three critical stops in the closing minutes that let Minnesota steal the road win.
Jokić missed six of his last seven shots in the fourth and finished 8-of-20 from the floor. His box score showed 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists, but those numbers hide how ineffective he was down the stretch.
The Series Now
Game 3 tips off Thursday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Wolves looked like a different team once Gobert settled into his rhythm, and Denver doesn't have a clean answer for him inside.
Jokić will adjust because that's what he does, but Gobert, snub or no snub, still dictates how this series gets played.