On April 19, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued to unfold, and the first award of the regular season has been announced, the best defensive player was won by Celtic guard Smart, who defeated Suns Tough Bridges and Jazz center Gobert.
Previously, the NBA officially announced that the three players who were shortlisted for the best defensive player were Smart, Gobert and Mikael Bridges.
Among them, Gobert has won the best defensive player 3 times before, and his advantage is also quite large; Bridges is equally outstanding, he has achieved the first record in the league with the Suns, and he has maintained full attendance and always stared at the core of the opponent, which is also a bit of a pity. In the end, Smart defeated Gobert and Bridges to win the best defensive player for the first time in his career, congratulations to Smart.
Smart was named Defensive Player of the Year, also setting two records, becoming the first defender to win the award since "Glove" Payton in 1996; and the second player in Celtics history to be named Best Defensive Player, the first being Garnett.
What's even more surprising is that this time, "Glove" Payton appeared at the Celtic Training Hall and personally presented the award to Smart. It is worth mentioning that Payton also said in an interview last week that he supports Smart's DPOY.
Subsequently, the media also posted a specific vote, and Smart won it a bit thrillingly, only 55 points ahead of Bridges behind him. Smart received 37 first, 18 second and 18 third; Bridges received 22 first, 25 second and 17 third.
In addition, Celtics Williams and Horford also received votes, while Warriors Green received only 2 third votes.