Watching Matisse Thybulle defend some of the best offensive minds in the NBA as a rookie, hold his own, and make sterling decisions every game is one of the most truly satisfying aspects of the 76ers this year. It’s karma for Philadelphia surviving the Markelle Fultz debacle, finally having a true rookie live up to the hype out of college and be worth watching every single game.

We’re not worried whether he’s going to play, waiting for mysterious re-evaluations of injuries that may or may not be real, or trying to decode passive aggressive Instagram posts like Woodward and Bernstein cracking Watergate…. no, we’re only looking forward to seeing who he’s going to pester to death for 20 minutes each and every night.

In a season of inconsistencies, Thybulle’s elite defense is one of the most truly satisfying aspects to watch night in and night out for the 76ers.

He’s finally a rookie worth watching in this city. Sure Ben Simmons was a rookie, but we had to wait a full year after he was drafted before seeing his greatness. Thybulle came in from the draft and instantly started to impact games with his hops, his freakish wingspan, and his nonstop defensive motor.

Thybulle is our eternal reward for years of suffering through injured or busted first round picks and, in a truly ironic draft moment, came to the 76ers in a trade with the Boston Celtics, who of course swindled dimwitted Bryan Colangelo into trading for the rights to draft Fultz and his chopmeat shoulder.

But Fultz is history, exiled to the swamps of Orlando where he can put together inconsistent games for a sub-.500 team (and somehow get All-Star buzz). It’s Thybulle’s time, and he’s making the most of it by putting talented veterans through the ringer each and every night on the defensive end of the floor.

He leads all rookies in steals with 62 (the closest is Cam Reddish with 47, who’s played 350 more minutes than Thybulle on the year), he’s fifth in blocks among rookies, and is 13th in the entire NBA in steals per game at 1.6, despite averaging only 20.2 minutes per game.

The numbers back him up, but to truly appreciate what he does you have to watch him night in and night out and see just how much he alters a game with his presence on the defensive end. He disrupts passing lanes with his insane wingspan, can pick anyone’s pocket one-on-one, and most impressively is almost never beaten so cleanly he can’t alter or impact a shot, even when behind a guard.

You know in horror movies when teenagers are running away from Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, think they’ve escaped, and turn around only to find the killer DIRECTLY BEHIND THEM, ready to crack open their skull with a machete?! That’s Thybulle. He’s ALWAYS directly behind a shooter on the offhand chance he gets beaten off the dribble, ready to perfectly block a lazy pull up jump shot into oblivion.

This is a perfect example of Thybulle torturing Kyrie Irving, one of the most talented scorers in the league, to death two weeks ago. The entire clip is impressive, but this particular play is exactly what I’m talking about:

He first denies Irving to the basket, and when he’s confronted by a hard screen from Jarrett Allen he fights through the contact, stays directly behind Irving step for step, times his jump with Irving’s shot perfectly and blocks the jumper for basket in transition:

He doesn’t swat at the ball, doesn’t even give the refs an opportunity to call him for a foul, just times his jump perfectly and uses his long-ass wingspan as his greatest asset. It’s a glorious thing to watch, a young athlete with elite intelligence to go along with his elite instincts to take advantage of his physical attributes. Compare him to Samuel Dalembert, an outrageously athletic defender, who could never successfully combine his instincts into any type of game intelligence. Sammy never met a pump fake he didn’t immediately fall in love with, which usually led to him having two fouls before the National Anthem was over every night.

With Thybulle, you can see him get into the heads of shooters as the games go on. He alters shots with just his presence, you can see shooters change the trajectory of their shot when he closes out during shot attempts. It’s glorious to watch and all-too frustrating to have to play against.

But sadly, defense isn’t sexy, chicks dig the long ball, and there’s no chance he wins rookie of the year. It’s probably Ja Morant’s to lose, putting up nearly 20 points on a mediocre Memphis Grizzlies team. But that’s okay. Thybulle knows as long as he continues to pester on the defensive end, if he makes any of the number of elite scorers in the east hesitate for a moment before hoisting a jump shot in his presence, he’ll be doing his job.

A corner three every now and then isn’t unwelcome either.