Kawhi Leonard is NBA's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season
San Antonio Spurs young star Kawhi Leonard was awarded with his second straight NBA Defensive Player of Year, beating out Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green in voting. The achievement made Leonard the first player who does not play center to have won it twice in a row since Dennis Rodman won it back in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons.
Per report from The Associated Press, the forward was able to get 84 first-place votes and 547 points in total against Green's 44 first-place votes and 421 total points. As a member of the league's best defensive team, he is on track of winning more of this award in the future. He led a Spurs team, although filled with aging veterans, all throughout the season when it came to stopping opponents. In fact, they ended the regular season with the best number in terms of points allowed per game at 92.9.
For Leonard, he posted remarkable defensive stats, including 1.78 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 5.5 defensive rebounds per game, according to Sports Illustrated. But his contribution isn't exclusive at the defensive end, since he also averaged a career high in two offensive stat lines – 21.2 points and 2.6 assists per game.
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The votes for the award came from a panel of broadcasters, media men, and sports writers from the U.S. and Canada. An interesting side note is that while Leonard won it for the second straight year, Green also happens to be the runner-up for the second consecutive year. These two definitely will see themselves as rivals for years to come.
Meanwhile, Miami Heat's budding center, Hassan Whiteside garnered enough votes to put himself in third place with 83 points, although he only received a couple of first-place votes. De Andre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers rounded up the top four by earning 50 points but no single first-place vote.
