OKLAHOMA CITY — If there’s one thing Oklahoma City Thunder All-Stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams can agree on about the Defensive Player of the Year award, their teammate Lu Dort deserves it. After beating the Indiana Pacers 132-111, extending the Thunder’s historic regular season to an unprecedented 62 wins, the All-Star tandem shared conflicting opinions on whether the DPOY should be awarded to one or multiple players.
Gilgeous-Alexander agrees with how it’s awarded today.
“To me, it’s just impact. There’s no position. There’s guards, there’s bigs, there’s wings, and to me, it’s whoever impacts the most deserves [it],” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Every other award is like that. For MVP, it doesn’t matter if you’re a guard or a big, or a wing; it’s how well you’re playing this season, and your position doesn’t matter. For all the team selections, it’s the same thing.
“And I think Lu is at the forefront of impacting defense in this NBA every single night, and that’s why I think he should get it,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.
Williams wishes the NBA would award two players as the league’s Defensive Player(s) of the Year or create an All-Defensive Third Team because the award is often awarded to a big.
“Historically, only bigs get it,” Williams said. “You just need both. On the perimeter, if you get beat, you’re going to need a big to help clean up some of that, and vice versa, you’re going to need a good wing defender in order to keep your big out of bad predicaments at the rim. So, in my head, it just makes sense that you have two for that, or at least, add a third team.
“I just think that makes more sense. Bigs get it every year. It’s not to diss them either. Obviously, they’re earning it. I just think there’s a lot of guards throughout history [who] have a really strong case for doing it, and then, they don’t get on the team. It’s one of those things I just think about,” Williams concluded.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s honest take on Lu Dort’s Thunder impact
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander credits Lu Dort’s defense for why his team defends at such a high level. Gilgeous-Alexander says Dort is the motor on that end of the floor.
“I would pick out Lu Dort,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “What he’s been to the point of our attack all year and throughout his whole career has been amazing. There’s nobody in the NBA like him.”
Dort’s defense keyed in on a 15-0 fourth-quarter run that closed out a 125-104 win against the Grizzlies.
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