In what was perhaps the most apropos revelation of an NBA end-of-season award in the history of the league’s Kia Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award, Boston Celtics veteran point guard Marcus Smart was alerted to the fact that he had won the NBA’s DPOY award for the 2021-22 season from the last backcourt player to win the award, all the way back in 1996.
Snapping the draught of guards taking home that particular piece of hardware, Smart was told of his winning the award by none other than Gary “The Glove” Payton, Sr., who let the Flower Mound native know how proud he was of Smart for holding down the nearly lost art of elite guard defense to a degree to be so honored by the NBA.
“You play that D the way it’s supposed to (be played),” said Payton to Smart. “You play with a chip on your shoulder and a lot of heart.”
