Jaylen Brown Took Exception To Marcus Smart Being Left Off DPOY Finalists
The NBA announced its finalists for the league’s year-end awards including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, the Sixth Man Award, Most Improved and Coach of the Year.
The Boston Celtics did not have a single finalist in any of the six categories, perhaps not all that surprising to some. It could, however, be argued Celtics guard Marcus Smart should be among the finalists for DPOY, and even head coach Brad Stevens for Coach of the Year.
Smart explained why he thought he should be in the running earlier this season, but Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and Utah Jazz’ Rudy Gobert were the three finalists.
Jaylen Brown, for one, didn’t appreciate that list. And Brown stuck up for his Celtics teammate with a tweet on Saturday evening.
“Marcus Smart the best defender in the NBA night in night out,” Brown tweeted.
Smart’s case comes down to the fact he can, and takes great pride in, guarding every position. His consistency helps the Boston defense be the best it can be, far beyond what his 1.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game depict.
Unfortunately for Smart, the DPOY award has long been a big man award, given to forwards or centers who are more impressive on the stat sheet. After all, the last guard to win the award was Gary Payton in 1995-95.
Hopefully, Smart will be able to join that list within the next few years.