There was a lot of late season bluster about Warriors legend Draymond Green winning Defensive Player of the Year.
But in the end, Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley took home DPOY honors, announced Thursday.
Mobley beat out Hawks wing Dyson Daniels, with Green coming in third.
It’s a massive honor for Mobley, who was always envisioned as a rim protector and generational defender and has finally reached that potential.
The 6-foot-11 Mobley averaged 1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game this season while ranking highly in most defensive advanced metrics.
He, along with Jarrett Allen, has helped key Cleveland’s top-10 defense that helped the Cavs earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.
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The award comes with a bit of a somber tone, though.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama would’ve been a shoo-in for this honor if he had played the requisite 65 games to be eligible.
But with Wembanyama missing the latter stages of the year with blood clot issues, the door was open.
Mobley stepped into it, holding off a historic season from Daniels. Daniels averaged 3.0 steals and 0.7 blocks per game while putting up 443 deflections, well ahead of second place Keon Ellis (273).
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