Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons has been regarded as one of the best defenders in the league. He constantly takes on the opposition’s best scorer, and he does a solid job disrupting them.

It was due to this work on the defensive end that he was named a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. Unfortunately for Simmons, the award went to Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert.

Simmons came up short in the voting, but he also understands it’s all about hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy in July.

“Congrats to Rudy,” Simmons said. “It is what it is. I’m not really concerned about individual awards. I want the championship so that’s my goal. The goal was never Defensive Player of the Year. It was just go out there and do my job, and try to be the best defender in the league regardless of the awards.”

Simmons has his hands full at the moment. He has the tough task of defending Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young. He has done a good job against him in the series, however, which is why Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead in their second-round series on Friday with a Game 3 win.

“The ultimate goal is a championship,” Simmons finished. “I still got to do my job at a high level.”

The Sixers will take on the Hawks in Game 4 on Monday from Atlanta.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!