Every day this week, the NBC Sports NBA writing crew is breaking down the league’s individual postseason awards and giving you their thoughts and predictions. We’ve done MVP, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year. Today, let’s get into Defensive Player of the Year. Here’s where we stand.
Defensive Player of the Year
Kurt Helin, NBC Sports Lead NBA Writer: Victor Wembanyama
The only question here is if he will be the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history. He should be. Wembanyama has to play 20+ minutes in one more game this season to reach the league-mandated 65-game threshold, but that should happen Friday or Sunday. The more interesting question is what would happen if Wembanyama didn’t qualify for the award? My guess is Chet Holmgren would win going away.
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Jay Coucher, NBC Sports Lead Betting Analyst: Victor Wembanyama
Over/under 7.5 career DPOYs for Wemby?
Raphielle Johnson, NBC Sports Fantasy basketball lead analyst: Victor Wembanyama
This should be the first of many DPOY awards that Wembanyama wins during his NBA career. The Spurs star has been dominant defensively, averaging 9.4 defensive rebounds, 1.0 steals and a league-best 3.1 blocks per game. And the blocks don’t tell the complete story, as there has been no shortage of “business decisions” by offensive players who choose not to shoot because of Wembanyama’s presence in the paint.
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Eric Samulski, MLB/NBA Writer, NBC Sports: Victor Wembanyama
A written defense of this is like needing a written defense to prove that The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It just was. We know that. It’s fact.