Kevin Garnett: Players who can challenge Dwight Howard for the next NBA Defensive Player of the Year
In the last NBA season, Orlando Magic’s big man Dwight Howard once again proved himself as a defensive beast and became the first player ever in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to be named as the Defensive
Player of the Year for the third successive time.
Considering that Howard’s game and physical strength have reached to a level which cannot be achieved by any player in NBA any time soon, it’s difficult to think of anyone else winning the award in the next season. However there
are few players who might stand an outside chance in giving Howard a tough time in clinching the honour for the fourth time.
Kevin Garnett
If there is one player in the league, who can match the physical toughness of Dwight Howard, he is Boston Celtics’ veteran power forward Kevin Garnett.
Although, the 35-year-old All-Star is in the final stages of his career, however the Celtics big still has stores of defensive intensity. It was his brilliant displays on the back court last season that earned him a spot in the
All NBA First Defensive Team last year – an honour which he has achieved for the record ninth time. Only Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is at par with Garnett in this regard.
With his offensive effectively diminishing fast due to age, Garnett seems to have circled his game more on defense. He was a rock in the C’s D late last season, first against the offensive battery of the New York Knicks and then
against the mighty Big Three trio of Miami Heat. Garnett adds an extra dimension and toughness to the Celtics defense, making it one of the most feared back court systems in the league.
He last won the NBA Defensive Players of the Year award in 2008 and if there is anybody who can take the challenge to the Orlando Magic big man, he is Garnett. He was the runner up for the award last season and come next season,
if the C’s manage to get their hands on a star offensive option, Garnett might well be able to dethrone Howard.
However, the Boston vet is aware that challenging Howard will be a task too tough. He once echoed these sentiments about Howard;
"[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence."
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