We’re so used to seeing big men win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award that Monday’s announcement of the honor going to the Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart was somewhat of a surprise.
He was the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1996. But if the award wasn’t going to a big man, there’s a solid argument to be had that Suns wing Mikal Bridges deserved to take home the honor.
Bridges — that best perimeter defender on the league’s best team — finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. But unlike Bam Adebayo, who was upset about his snub, Bridges was proud of Smart for winning the honor as a guard.
