Kawhi Leonard repeats as NBA Defensive Player of the Year
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, left, tries to strip the ball from Memphis’ Zach Randolph on Sunday.
NEW YORK — Kawhi Leonard has won his second straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year award after helping the San Antonio Spurs have the league’s best defense.
The Riverside King graduate beat out Draymond Green in voting Monday to become the first noncenter to win the award in consecutive seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
The 6-foot-7 Leonard received 84 first-place votes and 547 points from a panel of 130 sports writers and broadcasters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Green, the Warriors’ All-Star forward, was runner-up for the second straight year with 44 first-place votes and 421 points.
Miami center Hassan Whiteside was third with 83 points and two first-place votes. The Spurs were a franchise-record 67-15 this season and allowed a league-low 92.9 points per game. Leonard was 12th in the league in steals and averaged a career-best 0.99 blocks.
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