KG Wins the Defensive Player Award
April 23, 2008
Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett is the recipient of Defensive Player Award this year. Garnett averaged team-high 9.2 rebounds to go along with 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in his first season with the Celtics. He is second in the team in scoring with his 18.8 point average.
The 6-11 forward is a major factor in the success story of Boston. Garnett helped the the Celtics to achieve the league-best 66-16 regular season record. Celtics won only 24 games the previous season.
Garnett received 493 points from a panel of 124 sports writers and broadcasters in the US and Canada. Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets came in second and Shane Battier of Houston Rockets finished third.
“Any award you’re able to acquire in this league is a big deal. At the end of the day, it’s about winning.” Garnett said after winning the NBA Defensive Player Award.
A 12 year NBA veteran, Garnett has yet to capture his first NBA title and he just might get one this season with the Celtics. Boston leads the series 1-0 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of playoffs.
Personally, I would have chosen Camby to win the award. But Kevin Garnett is not a bad choice for this award. He truly deserves this one for being the major catalyst in Boston. Josh Smith of the Hawks also deserves some credit for his tremendous defensive effort this season.
Oh, and before I forget, being a dirty player is different from being a defensive specialist, so people please stop throwing in Bruce Bowen’s name.
-fouledout
April 23, 2008 at 12:57 am
You know, I never really thought much of the Celtic’s defense. I would have gone with Camby as well — or someone else — but they the C’s do play some good team D. I guess it’s a testament to KG because Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Eddie House, etc. have never thought about D before this season.
April 23, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I like KG for this award of Camby because I feel like Camby benefits too much from the system. In a fast system, Camby simply gets far more block opportunities since there are way more shots taken by both teams. Plus there’s more total rebounds per game, and he’s the only major rebounder that the teams has. I think if you took Camby out of that system, he wouldn’t look like such a good candidate for DPOY.
April 24, 2008 at 1:27 am
fast system or not, camby plays big time defense which makes it more special because he’s the only one who plays D in denver..
May 13, 2008 at 1:45 am
[...] Team selection will be an additional award for the two players who were recently award NBA Defensive Player of the Year (Garnett) and Most Valuable Player [...]