Giannis Antetokounmpo named Defensive Player of the Year over Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert

A day after the Milwaukee Bucks' playoffs first-round Game 4 victory against the Orlando Magic, the NBA officially announced that Giannis Antetokounmpo was the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY). This will be Giannis' first DPOY, who came in second to Rudy Gobert last season. Now, the Bucks icon is the only fifth player in history with both the DPOY and MVP, joining Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kevin Garnett.

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Giannis Antetokoynmpo wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year, beats Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert

'The Greek Freak' is now also the second player to the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award with the Bucks. Sindey Mociref had won the DPOY for the Bucks for two seasons – 1982-83, 1983-84 – which was the first two times the award was presented. As per the 2019-20 voting results provided by the NBA, Giannis beat Los Angles Lakers forward Anthony Davis and Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert to win the award. 

According to the table, Giannis won first place with 75 first-place, 18 second-place and three third-place votes. Hundred sportswriters and broadcasters voted for 12 players. Giannis beat Davis, who ended up at second place, with 432 total points. Davis had 200 points with 14 first-place votes, while Gobert was third with six first-place votes. Gobert has won the DPOY for the last two seasons. 

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Players were awarded five points for every first-place vote, three points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. The voting was based on how the players performed during the regular season games while lasted till March 11. While the eight seeding games (July 30 to August 14) at the NBA bubble were a part of the regular season, they did not count for the voting to select this season's Kia Defensive Player of the Year – or any other end-of-season award. 

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Giannis defensive stats

This season, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the league's best defensive rating, allowing only 101.6 points per 100 possessions. When Giannis was on the court, the team allowed only 96.5 points per 100 possesions. This is the lowest defensive rating among the over 300 players, who have played at least 15 minutes per game.

Till March, the Bucks also limited their opponents to an NBA-low of 41.3% from the field. With Giannis, the percentage fell to 36.5 from the field, the lowest among over 250 players who attempted or faced at least 300 shots. 

Giannis was also leading the NBA with 11.5 defensive rebounds per game till March 11, where he scored at least 15 defensive rebounds in nine games. The 25-year-old forward also averaged 1.04 steals and 1.02 blocks. He is now the sixth player in history to average more than one for both categories. While Giannis is now the DPOY, he is also a finalist and fan-favourite to win the 2019-20 Kia NBA Most Valuable Award while averaging 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists through March 11. He helped the team to a 53-12 league-leading win-loss record and is competing against LeBron James for the title. The MVP will be announced during the NBA playoffs as well.

Bucks playoffs

The Bucks and Giannis are currently playing their first-round playoffs series against Magic. After an initial loss, the Bucks bagged three straight wins to lead the series 3-1. Their next game is scheduled for Wednesday, 4:00 PM EST (Thursday, 1:30 AM IST) at the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida. 

Also read | Anthony Davis not a front-runner in the race for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo stats

(Image credits: Milwaukee Bucks Instagram)