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*Photo via USA Today
“NEW YORK, April 23, 2015 – The San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, who became only the sixth forward to lead the NBA in steals per game since the league started tracking the statistic 42 years ago, is the recipient of the 2014-15 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. He becomes the first Spurs player to win the award since David Robinson in 1991-92.
Leonard garnered 37 first-place votes and 333 total points from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. He edged the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, who tallied 45 first-place votes and 317 points. The Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan finished third with 261 points (32 first-place votes). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.”-Via NBA.com/Spurs
This was a little surprising ,it seemed that it was either going to be DeAndre Jordan or Draymond Green. Still, Kawhi Leonard is a deserving candidate. He locked up guys across the league, and always gets his hands on the ball. He was pretty effective at it too, leading the NBA in steals.Kawhi is a huge asset for Popovich and the Spurs.
Congrats to Kawhi!