Mikal Bridges (Phoenix Suns)
Take a look at Steph Curry’s game log. It looks so pretty with all the high-scoring games, right? But wait, there’s an ugly 12-point blemish. It’s the same with James Harden, who has triple-doubles galore until you hit a 14-point clunker. Zach LaVine also has a 12-point rough spot in an otherwise outstanding game log. All three games were losses to the Phoenix Suns, where all three players were defended by Mikal Bridges.
I might seem like I’m cherry-picking stats but Bridges is routinely assigned to defend the best wing player of opposing teams. His long arms and excellent lateral movement make him a lockdown defender. But he’s also an important cog in a Suns defense ranked third in the league in terms of defensive rating. He’s a versatile defender that can hold his own anywhere on the court. Bridges has been a consistent presence for the league-leading Suns all season long. He’s one of only five players that have played all regular season games. It’s such a luxury for Coach Monty Williams to have a defender like Bridges ready for deployment on a nightly basis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert and Bam Adebayo all have a claim to the award. But ask Curry, Harden, and LaVine. These All-Stars just might name Bridges as their Defensive Player of the Year. – Polo Bustamante
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Only one player on the Phoenix Suns has played every single game this season. And that's Mikal Bridges.
When he came into the league in 2018, a lot of experts pegged him as a quintessential 3-and-D guy. But now in his fourth season, Bridges has truly shown he is low-key one of the top defensive players in the league.
The NBA is full of talented perimeter players, such as Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Luka Doncic, to name a few, and to cover them on a nightly basis is a tough job, which Bridges does extremely well.
He can defend spots one to four with his athleticism and versatility, and he can cover a lot of ground because of his length and wingspan, making him a great on-ball defender. Playing defense is in Bridges' DNA. His high defensive IQ makes it easier for him to read the tendencies of opposing players.
His numbers don't pop out like the other DPOY candidates, but the Suns wouldn't be where they are now if it wasn't for Bridges' impact on the defensive end. — JC Ansis
Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics)
This isn’t a common pick. It’s also not a sexy pick. Not only is Marcus Smart a relatively smaller name than the likes of Joel Embiid or Draymond Green, but he’s also a guard. A guard hasn’t won this award since Gary Payton in 1996.
All that being said, it would be amiss not to have a Boston Celtic in the DPOY conversation. As we enter the postseason, the Celtics are first in defensive rating at 106.2 and No. 1 in opponents’ points, allowing just 104.5 per game. They shackle teams to a league-best 43.4 shooting clip from the field and are tied for first in defending the 3-point line at 33.9 percent. They are also second in limiting opponents’ points in the paint (42.5) and are in the top five in containing second-chance opportunities (12.5).
Sure, this is an individual award and team success should be marginal. However, the best defensive team in the league needs to at least have a nominee for the DPOY award, right? And Smart is deserving of that honor. He is the engine that keeps the Boston defense humming. It’s his motor, his trash-talking, his physical play, and most importantly, his leadership that has made the Celtics a defensive powerhouse. – Yoyo Sarmenta
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While the DPOY is not usually awarded to guards, Marcus Smart is in a great position to change that narrative this season. Even Gary Payton, the last guard to win the award in ‘96, has given his endorsement to Smart.
A two-time All-Defensive First Team member, Smart has elevated his defense even further. He’s the main reason the Celtics are the top defensive team right now. He can single-handedly force opposing teams to change their offense as he takes on the task of guarding the best perimeter players. His versatility also allows him to switch onto all positions effectively.
Smart’s defensive impact, while not always seen on the stat sheet, has undoubtedly helped the Celtics in their second-half surge that lifted them all the way to the second seed. It’s easier to make a DPOY case for big men, but it’s about time that guards also get recognized for their defensive contributions. – Charmie Lising
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
Imagine we, as a species, were in danger of being wiped out by aliens. Think Marvin the Martian-evil aliens, not capitalist dystopia Monstars.
For some reason, the aliens will give our kind a chance if one representative from our species can defeat them one-on-one in basketball. In this doomsday scenario, our only hope will be Giannis.
I don't have to describe what these aliens look like, how many limbs they have or if they have a decent jumper – whatever these extraterrestrials look like, Giannis can probably match up with them.
He'll probably score and, more important to this column, his long limbs and two-percent fat body could probably stop the aliens from scoring.
This a very meandering argument, but it's no less arbitrary than the criteria for DPOY. All I know is if I'm ever in a situation where a defensive stop in basketball is what would determine my living or dying, I wouldn't trust Rudy “can't-play-in-the-playoffs” Gobert. Give me Giannis every time. – Migs Flores
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies)
For all the talk surrounding the awesome run of the Memphis Grizzlies, not a lot of it involves the massive headaches that Jaren Jackson Jr. brings to your favorite scorer. It’s always about Ja Morant’s creativity with the basketball, about Desmond Bane’s massive leap to superstardom, about Dillon Brooks’ mouth. Not too much about JJJ’s block party.
The thing about Jackson is that you won’t see highlights of him ripping through a nasty chasedown block like Giannis. You won’t see him hound his man like a dog ala Marcus Smart. You won’t catch him orchestrating the defense like a maestro named Draymond Green. What you will see are one of his two arms either swatting the ball or disrupting the airspace just enough to influence a missed shot. Just straight-up, honest, anti-bucket defense. That should be enough for DPOY.
He leads the leagues in blocks too, by the way. – Jon Carlos Rodriguez
