“I’m Defensive Player of the Year every year”: Milwaukee Bucks star talks about being underappreciated as a defender over his career

The Milwaukee Bucks are looking like a legitimate title challenger this time around, having added Jrue Holiday to their ranks.

Holiday is a 12-year veteran who’s been around the block for a long time now. The 6’4″ guard has been one of basketball’s better two-way players over the past decade or so.

Jrue has been one heck of a presence on the Pelicans before this, serving as AD’s primary offensive and defensive help. He’s now playing the same role alongside another freak power forward in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but with a much superior roster to help him out.

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The Milwaukee Bucks have outscored opponents by a cool 10+ points per 100 possessions when Middleton, Holiday and Giannis share the floor together. This is pretty solid proof of their legitimacy as title candidates this year.

Holiday has supercharged the Bucks’ offense by providing spacing and superior playmaking compared to Eric Bledsoe. He’s also been practically as valuable, if not more, on the defensive end.

Bucks star Jrue Holiday calls himself ‘DPOY every year’

Holiday recently talked to Yahoo NBA insider and reporter Chris Haynes regarding his time in Milwaukee. The 31-year-old was all praise for the organization and the city. He also talked about their title chances and the season they’ve had in quite an upbeat manner.

Haynes is one of those reporters who have found favor with NBA players across teams. Holiday felt comfortable enough to open up and share his true feelings about DPOY voting:

“The Lakers are on TV, Boston’s on TV, but when I was in New Orleans, we weren’t on TV as much as we wanted to be. So maybe that’s a part of the reason why I’m overlooked. ”

“Does it make me mad? No. I’m OK with kind of being under the radar. I’m not a flashy person, so these are things that I can’t control. I know a lot of guys that hoop respect my game just like I respect theirs. I feel like that means more to me. Unfortunately, the players don’t have a vote.”

“I think what I bring defensively on the court, a lot of people don’t really do, to be completely honest.” 😤

Jrue Holiday told @ChrisBHaynes how he really feels ⤵️

— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) May 12, 2021

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