In a recent interview, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort didn’t hold back while discussing his 2024-25 regular-season goal to win Defensive Player of the Year. While the Thunder are relatively healthy to finish the campaign, their longest-tenured player revealed his personal goal between now and the end of the postseason.
As a team leader, Dort takes pride in helping his teammates succeed. But for his effort on the defensive end of the floor, Lu has set personal goals he hopes to achieve this season, per Sports Illustraded’s Chris Mannix.
“The biggest goal is to go out there and perform every night for my teammates. But it will always be nice to get rewarded for the hard work that I do on the court, which would probably be Defensive Player of the Year or First Team,” Dort said. “If you ask me if I deserve it, I would say yes, just because of what I bring every night, all the matchups that I got to face every night. But all that would be a goal of mine.”
Dort has never been named to an All-Defensive Team. He received votes for last year’s All-Defensive Second Team but not enough to make either team for the 2023-24 campaign. Perhaps this is the season Dort pushes through. He’s averaging a career-best 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game while serving as the defensive anchor tasked to defend the best opposing guards for Oklahoma City’s Western Conference-leading squad.
Jalen Williams endorses Thunder’s Lu Dort for DPOY
While stating that the NBA should honor two recipients for the illustrious Defensive Player of the Year award, Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams endorsed Lu Dort for DPOY. Williams was shocked Dort wasn’t named either All-Defensive First or Second Teams in 2023-24.
For Williams, Dort should be considered the best defensive player in the NBA for his effort on that end of the floor, per The Young Man and the Three podcast.
“He definitely deserves it,” Williams said of Dort. “At least while I’ve been here, these last 3 years, he’s had the hardest match-up every year, every game for 82 plus games. Last year, played 100 games, he has the best player for 100 games, the whole game. I don’t know how you don’t get it. I don’t make the rules. I think they should add a 3rd team, and I think there should be two Defensive Players of the Year.”
Dort will continue to strengthen his case in back-to-back against the Timberwolves, starting on the road on Sunday and ending at the Paycom Center on Monday.
The post Thunder guard Lu Dort’s strong take on DPOY pursuit appeared first on ClutchPoints.
