With the release of the candidates for the six major awards in the regular season, the selection of the final winners of the major awards is also in an orderly manner.
And just one night, with other awards still in place, the winner of this season's best defensive player has finally been officially determined, and the last DPOY winner Gobert has also officially failed to win, and the Sun Dark Horse has offered sincere wishes!
According to the NBA's official announcement, Green Guard Marcus Smart successfully defeated Jazz player Rudy Gobert and Suns player Mikal Bridges in the final selection session with a total vote of 257 votes, officially locking in the 2021-22 regular season best defensive player!
This season to play for the Green Army, Smart's performance we have seen for all to see, the entire regular season, Smart represented the Green Army in a total of 71 regular season games, the season attendance can be said to be quite impressive.
In the case of averaging 32 minutes per game, Smart averaged 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game, which not only helped the Greenshirts to enter the playoffs strongly, but also became an indispensable part of the Green Army's offensive and defensive ends!
It has to be said that considering the Green Army's regular season record, as well as Smart's personal performance and role on the defensive end, as the "soul" of the Green Army's defensive end, Smart was indeed the best defensive player of the season!
It is worth mentioning that Smart beat Gobert + Bridges in succession, and was strongly elected to DPOY this season, becoming the first defender to be selected as the best defensive player of the season since Gary Payton in the 1995-96 season.
At the same time, Smart is also the second player in the history of the Green Army to be elected to DPOY after Kevin Garnett, and it can be said that he has set two eye-catching records in a row, proving his strength and value!
In contrast, The season performance of Gobert, who was the winner of last season's best defensive player and did not qualify for DPOY this season, is actually not bad.
After all, throughout the regular season, Gobert can also average 15.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, which is the Jazz's defensive gate on the inside!
But rationally speaking, compared to Smart's attendance in 71 regular season games, Gobert has only played 66 games for the Jazz this season, which has become a major constraint on Gobert's defense.
Compared with Gobert, as a dark horse in the list of DPOY candidates this season, the failure of Suns player Mikale Bridges is indeed regrettable.
After all, in the regular season of the 2021-22 season, Bridges not only completed 82 games of full attendance, but also averaged 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Whether it is from the season attendance, or the team's record and the performance of the individual defensive end, Bridges can be described as remarkable, and even can be said to be indistinguishable from Smart!
Only in the final selection process, Bridges, who only received 202 votes, still missed the best defensive player of the season.
Fortunately, the young Bridges did not feel frustrated about the failure of DPOY, but felt full of passion and sent sincere wishes to the big brother Smart: "Congratulations to Marcus Smart, this honor you deserve, I am grateful to all those who supported me, I am very grateful to be able to participate in the competition for the best defensive player." ”
Obviously, as a potential young player of only 25 years old, bridges has not been the best defensive player this season, but with his development ceiling and upside, this highly cultivated young player may only be a matter of time in the matter of competing for DPOY!