Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Monday.
It’s the first DPOY award for Smart, who is the first primary guard to take home the honor since Gary Payton in the 1995-96 season.
Smart received 257 points (37 first-place votes) to finish first in voting. Forward Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns (202 points, 22 first-place votes) and center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (136 points, 12 first-place votes) ended up second and third, respectively, in voting from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Smart finished the season ranked seventh in the NBA in steals per game (1.68) for a Celtics team that led the league in defensive rating (106.2) and points allowed per game (104.5). He also was ranked fifth among all NBA guards with a defensive rating of 105.2, and was first in the league with 1.1 loose balls recovered per game.
Smart, who started each of the 71 regular-season games he played, also finished tied for 10th in deflections (106) and charges drawn (16) and had a career-high 3.2 defensive rebounds per game.
The eighth-year player is the second Celtic ever to win DPOY, joining Kevin Garnett (2007-08).
Big men have dominated the award since its inception in 1982. Smart and Payton are only the two point guards to have won it. Shooting guards have won it another five times, but none since Michael Jordan in 1988. And centers and forwards have won all the rest, including Gobert in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Speaking last month, Smart said guards deserve more respect in the voting.
“I’m not taking anything from the bigs,” he told ESPN. “A vital part of the game is protecting the paint. But, as guards, we do a lot more before [our man] gets to the paint. … Contesting the 3, contesting pullups, making sure he doesn’t get to his spots.”
Information from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and The Associated Press was used in this report.
