Smart reveals why his DPoY case is stronger than Rudy Gobert’s originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Marcus Smart has done a tremendous job in recent months bolstering his case to be the Defensive Player of the Year Award winner, but the Boston Celtics point guard is in a close race against some pretty strong competition.
One of the players in the mix with Smart is Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
The Frenchman is an elite defense and has won DPoY in three of the last four seasons, including last year. In fact, centers and power forwards have won this award every season since 1996 when Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton, nicknamed “The Glove”, earned the honor.
Forsberg: Smart passes the eye test for DPOY and more C’s thoughts
Smart is well aware of how big men have dominated this award in recent decades. He also understands why Gobert is again such a strong candidate to win it.
But the Celtics guard also believes his case for DPoY is stronger than Gobert’s this season, and he…