"Next level of hate": NBA fans have a field day as Rudy Gobert named most overrated by 14% of league's players

In a recent anonymous player poll by NBA players, Rudy Gobert was voted most overrated by a wide margin. The voting result led to a flurry of reactions from fans on social media.

Every year, players and coaches are polled on a series of questions. Despite Gobert having a strong bounce-back year for the Minnesota Timberwolves, many players still view him as overrated. The players with the next highest amount of votes were Jordan Poole and Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young.

These results led to a wide range of comments from NBA fans on social media. Some felt that the Timberwolves were being targeted, as Karl-Anthony Towns is on this list. Others felt the need to point out the small sample size of players polled.

"this is literally just a list of players that people hate," one fan said.

While Rudy Gobert was once the running joke of the All-Star game, some fans came to his defense following the poll. Many cited his elite-level work on the defensive end for why he's far from overrated.

"Gobert is on his way to another DPOY and y’all still say he’s overrated," said one fan.

"Adding Rudy Gobert to your team guarantees that your team will have a top defense. I don’t get why fellow players are voting Rudy as the most overrated," another fan said.

"Rudy Gobert is the most disliked player by his peers since Bill Laimbeer," said one fan.

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Rudy Gobert still voted among NBA's best defenders

Even though players voted him to be the most overrated player in the league. Gobert still got his flowers for his on-court work. While he might be a little lower than he should be, the Timberwolves center received a fair share of votes for league's best defender.

A total of 132 players voted on this, with Victor Wembanyama coming in at the top spot at 15.2%. Not far behind him was Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday at 12.9%. Gobert came in sixth place with 6% of the vote.s The players just ahead of him were Lu Dort and his Timberwolves teammate Jaden McDaniels.

After struggling in his first year in Minnesota, Gobert stepped up in a big way this season. He once again looked like the defensive stalwart the NBA grew accustomed to seeing. Anchored by Gobert, the Timberwolves had the league's top defense with a 108.4 defensive rating.

Following this strong campaign, Rudy Gobert finds himself in the running for the Defensive Player of the year. He was named a finalist this weekend along with Wembanyama and Bam Adebayo.

If Gobert wins, it will be the fourth time he will secure the DPOY, tying him with Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for the most all time.