Spurs’ Leonard repeats as Defensive Player; Hawks’ Millsap fifth
The Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, the second straight season the forward has won the award. Leonard received 547 points, including 84 first-place votes.
The Warriors’ Draymond Green was second with 421 points (44 first-place votes) and the Heat’s Hassan Whiteside was third with 83 points (two first-place votes).
The Hawks’ Paul Millsap finished fifth in the voting with 21 points, including three second-place and 12 third-place votes. Al Horford finished with four other players tied for 13th with one point on a third-place vote.
The voting for postseason awards is done by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters in the United States and Canada. Players are awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
As a matter of newspaper policy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not take part the voting process.
Leonard, a 6-foot-7 forward, is the first non-center to earn Defensive Player honors in back-to-back seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
About the Author
Chris Vivlamore is the sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has served as reporter and editor at the AJC since 2003.
