A wide open Defensive Player of the Year race is still a talking point, after the award was given out.
Initially Victor Wembanyama was the presumptive winner of the coveted award, until the San Antonio Spurs phenom was ruled out for the season with a blood clot diagnosis last February.
With Wembanyama’s season shutdown, several candidates made their respective cases for the DPOY.
But ultimately, it was Evan Mobley who secured the Defensive Player of the Year award, mainly due to his unwavering impact to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 64-win regular season.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty ImagesDyson Daniels claims he should have been the winner of DPOY award
No one came closer to clinching this year’s Defensive Player of the Year than Dyson Daniels.
After a “cursed” experience in his first two seasons within the New Orleans Pelicans, Daniels savored a breakout campaign in his first year for the Atlanta Hawks.
Daniels established his case as the NBA’s most terrifying perimeter defender, leading the league in steals (3.0) and breaking a 51-year record.
As a guard, he became the first since Michael Jordan to dominate the combined defensive stat lines of steals and blocks for over 30 years.
Upon winning this year’s Most Improved Player, the Australian sensation is convinced that he should have secured The Hakeem Olajuwon trophy as well.
“Yeah, I was robbed,” the Hawks star said on Tommy Talks podcast. “I mean, I was definitely robbed. If you look at the stats, from what [I had].
“It’s a big man’s award, that’s why I was robbed. But I think averaging three steals a game hasn’t been done in over, like, 30 years or something like that. It’s special.
“It says Defensive Player of the Year, but team defense definitely goes into it a little bit, and we weren’t a good team on that side of the floor.
“So, I mean, if we were a top four, top five seed, I probably would have nearly been a lock for it. But Evan Mobley is deserving of it. He’s a great defender. I’m happy I beat Draymond. I’ll let him know about that in our next game.”
Green’s prediction about Daniels came to fruition
Daniels’ defensive masterclass served as one of the lone bright spots of the Hawks this season. Atlanta endured another mediocre year, winning just 40 regular season games and settling for another Play-In Tournament exit.
Previously, Draymond Green argued that Daniels would be “crushed” for not winning the Defensive Player of the Year this year. As such, this prediction perhaps came to fruition upon the huge admission offered by the Atlanta swingman.
“I thought Mobley was always the front-runner. Draymond just talked his way up there,” Daniels added.
“I mean, yeah, I kind of felt Mobley was going to win it just because he was on the No. 1 seed and he was up there for the whole year.
“He was definitely deserving of it. But f___ that. I should have won it.”
As Wembanyama will return healthy starting next season, the odds of winning the Defensive Player of the Year award will be one-sided again. It might be unfortunate for Daniels, but he can only use this historic defensive season he had as a stepping stone for a greater success moving forward.