Kawhi Wins Defensive Player of the Year Award

   

Written by Taylor Odenat

  This post season, Kawhi Leonard has been awarded for his defensive prowess during the 2014-2015 season with the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Winning this award was no simple feat because of the other nominees for the award and the position that Leonard plays. The Small Forward position is not typically rewarded with the DPOY award because the centers of the NBA seem to make more of a defensive impact. They man the paint, alter and contest shots, and anchor the central defense of an NBA team. Not many basketball organizations are able to say that they have a player under contract who doesn't play the center position, that is able to have the same impact at a different position. The San Antonio Spurs however , and arguably the Cleveland Cavaliers with Lebron James, are able to proudly boast their starting Small Forward and restricted free agent Kawhi Leonard as a Defensive Player of the Year winning over candidates such as Draymond Green, Tim Duncan, and Anthony Davis. Kawhi was somewhat of an unexpected decision for DPOY, but if defensive statistics do speak for themselves. According to Basketball Reference, Per 100 possessions, Leonard averaged 11.6 rebounds per game and 3.7 steals per game. Additionally, he was first in the league in steals per game at 2.7, first in defensive efficiency at 96.4, and sixth in defensive win shares at 4.4. Kawhi Leonard is creeping his way into NBA Superstardom seeing as he is already an NBA champion, the third youngest winner of the NBA Finals MVP and now the second small forward to win the award since Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, in the 2003-2004 NBA season.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn-jpg.si.com/sites/default/files/styles/si_article_main/public/2015/04/07/kl.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.si.com/nba/2015/04/07/kawhi-leonard-san-antonio-spurs-playoffs-all-nba&h=540&w=960&tbnid=XfhMxyhZ94zP6M:&zoom=1&docid=Zh3U-KIw_i7v-M&ei=AnVJVe34L9WlyATNkIG4Cw&tbm=isch&ved=0CBsQMygTMBM4ZA, http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leonaka01.html