Dwight Howard unhappy at not being reigning defensive player of the year – NBA News
A day after making his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers in a preseason game, Dwight Howard was all smiles about his experience as a Laker and his performance in the game, but felt a little disappointed by the fact that he was not the reigning defensive player of the year. The NBA released results of its annual survey of the league’s 30 general managers on Monday, and Howard was recognized as the best defender as well as the best interior defender in the league in the survey. He said after the results were released that he still does not understand why he was not named the defensive player of the year last season.
“I thought I should have won it last year, to be honest with you. I was a little bit upset about that. I felt like I did my job to win it. I also feel like I didn't because of the whole situation. That played a factor in it,” said Howard referring to his fallout with his Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy last season while talking to reporters on Monday after practice.
Tyson Chandler was named the defensive player of the year last season, breaking Howard’s streak of winning the title the past three seasons. Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder finished second in the rankings. Howard averaged more rebounds and blocks per game than Chandler, put played only 54 games because of his back injury that forced him to miss the end of the regular season.
Looking forward, Howard wants to win the trophy this year as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. If he is able to do so, he will tie Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo as the player with the most defensive player of the year wins at four. The Lakers Head Coach Mike Brown is also looking forward to Howard contributing his defensive skills to the team and talked about what makes him so effective on that end of the floor.
“First of all, his intelligence. Second of all, his willingness to defend. And then you combine those two things with his size, his strength, his athleticism, his versatility, agility, his power, explosiveness ... I mean, all those things that you nor I have,” said Brown.
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