All indications in Orlando – big press conference set for this afternoon – are that Dwight Howard will hoist the Defensive Player of the Year award today. To the surprise, of course, of absolutely no one.
Howard was far and away the League’s best defender this season, and it appears as though he will be rewarded for his efforts.
Florida Today reports:
The Orlando Magic have scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference for today in which all-star center Dwight Howard is expected to be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Howard led the NBA in rebounds (13.8) and blocked shots (2.92) to become just the fifth player in league history to do so in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1976), Bill Walton (‘77), Hakeem Olajuwon (‘90) and Ben Wallace (‘02) are the only others to accomplish that feat in the same season.
Howard could become the youngest winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award in NBA history. Last season, he was the youngest rebounding ever and this season he became the youngest blocked shot champion ever at 23 years, 128 days.
I trust that this will not be the last DPOY award of his career.
And now, onto to more pressing matters….such as his teammates getting him the damn ball.
