So much for San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama locking up the Defensive Player of the Year award. With a blood clot in his right shoulder shutting him down for the rest of the season, he’s now out of the DPOY race, and fans and pundits alike are now keying on the next contender for the award.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and Evan Mobley are among the leading names, but the league’s No. 1 defense, the Oklahoma City Thunder, has a candidate of its own, with Lu Dort holding the highest odds among OKC players.
Dort isn’t shying away from the idea either. He’s prided himself on defense, taking on any assignment given to him and easing the load on his teammates. The Thunder have the best defense in the league, and he deserves plenty of credit. Dort now believes he deserves to win Defensive Player of the Year or at least earn a spot on the All-Defensive First Team.
Per Sports Illustrated:
“Honestly, the biggest goal is to go out there and perform every night for my teammates. But it will always be nice to get rewarded for the hard work that I do on the court, which would probably be Defensive Player of the Year or first team. If you ask me if I deserve it, I would say yes, just because of what I bring every night, all the matchups that I got to face every night. But all that would be a goal of mine.”
