Jalen Williams has started an interesting debate in NBA circles with his take on how defensive accolades are handed out in the NBA every year. The Oklahoma City Thunder star believes that the Defensive Player of the Year award is mostly given out by the league based on raw numbers, like rebounds, steals, and blocks per game, along with other advanced stats. This almost always puts defensive guards at a disadvantage to win the award.
Advertisement
Williams argued that the NBA should have a separate DPOY to recognize the defensive impact of guards. Because at the moment, their output is mostly downplayed because of the lack of quantifiable data points or flashy highlight reels.
“I think there should be two Defensive Player of the Years. I got a lot to say about the rules…defense is very different for certain players. I can be a really good defender without averaging the most steals,” Williams said on the Old Man and the Three Podcast.
“Like Herb Jones is not like first in steals, but if you ask everybody around the NBA, who is one of the best defenders in the league is, he’s going to be in the top 5 conversation. So I think [you should] have a big and a guard [DPOY]…It’s just a big every year and I feel like it’s based on blocks,” he added.
Jaylen Brown seemed to agree with his namesake’s assessment of the issue. He shared a clip of Williams’ interview with the caption, “Agreed”.
Agreed https://t.co/nU2n1EM8k5
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) January 15, 2025
Williams, however, made it clear that he doesn’t want to discredit the defensive contributions of big men in the game. He just wants inclusivity in the process. “A guard has never had to defend the paint, a big has never had to defend a pin down,” the 23-year-old said to drive home his point.
We could get an idea of what J-Will is talking about if we take a look at the DPOYs of the modern era. Marcus Smart was the only guard to get the award in the 21st century in 2022. Apart from that, it has mostly gone to forwards and centers. Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert won it last year and Spurs center Victor Wembanyama is likely to get it this year.
Williams does have a valid argument if we take into account Rudy Gobert’s case. The Frenchman has bagged four DPOYs because of his high defensive rating in the regular season and other favorable stats. But he has also been widely criticized by analysts for being a defensive liability in the postseason, his flaws in one-on-one matchups were especially apparent during the series against the Dallas Mavericks last year.
On the other hand, Jrue Holiday has been a key defensive asset in two NBA Championship teams (the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks and the 2024 Boston Celtics). In fact, the Bucks’ defense suffered a substantial decline after Holiday’s departure from Milwaukee. But the defensive guard is yet to even feature in the DPOY conversation, let alone win the award.
