Giannis Antetokounmpo Wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Posted on by Sagar Biswas

Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.

What We Know:

  • Coming off of a Game 4 win against the Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks and coach Mike Budenholzer got to present Antetokounmpo with his first DPOY award. Antetokounmpo won in a landslide, receiving 75 out of 100 first-place votes. With Antetokounmpo on the court, Milwaukee only allowed 96.5 points per 100 possessions, which was a league-best for players averaging at least 15 minutes a game. According to Second Spectrum, Antetokounmpo held opponents to 36.3% shooting percentage while being the primary defender, which was also a league-best.
  • The Bucks led the league in defensive rating for the regular season. While Antetokounmpo was certainly the team’s anchor on that side of the floor, Milwaukee’s roster is full of capable defenders top to bottom. When accepting the award, Antetokounmpo said “I know that my name is on this trophy but it could be any of these guys’ names on this trophy.” The Bucks also led the league in net rating outscoring opponents by 9.4 points per 100 possessions, and that number improved to 15.4 points per 100 possesions while Antetokounmpo was on the court.

  • At just 25-years-old, Antetokounmpo is already building a historic resume. He is only the second player in Bucks history to win DPOY, with Bucks legend Sidney Moncrief last winning the award in 1984. Adding this award to his collection, Antetokounmpo is just the fifth player in NBA history to win MVP and DPOY, joining Kevin Garnett, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan. Furthermore, Giannis is the favorite to win MVP again this year and he could be only the third player in history to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. Jordan completed this feat in 1988 and Olajuwon did it most recently in 1994.

The Bucks lead the Orlando Magic 3-1 in the first round and are expected to close out the series. The Bucks had the best regular season record in the league and are viewed as serious title contenders. With MVP and DPOY already under his belt, Giannis is looking to add two more awards this season: NBA Champion and Finals MVP.

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