Draymond Green finishes 3rd in DPOY voting

So close!

When San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama went down with an injury that made him ineligible for regular season awards, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green stated that he was coming for the Defensive Player of the Year award. And while he ultimately fell short, Green sure gave it a hell of a run.

The NBA announced on Thursday that Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year award, after averaging 1.6 blocks (and just 2.0 fouls) per game for a top-10 defense. New Orleans Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, who nearly lapped the field in steals this year (he finished with 229, with the next closest player only swiping 131 steals) finished second, while Green was awarded third. We knew that Mobley, Daniels, and Green would populate the top three in some order, after they were announced as the finalists a week ago.

Green received first-place votes from 15 of the 90 media members given ballots. He received 20 second-place votes and 19 third-place votes, and was absent on 36 ballots, for a total of 154 points. Mobley received 35 first-place votes, 30 second-place votes, 20 third-place votes, and five omissions for a total of 285 points, while Daniels earned 25 first-place votes, 17 second-place votes, 21 third-place votes, and 27 omissions, for 197 points.

Also receiving first-place votes were Oklahoma City Thunder wing Luguentz Dort (11 first-place votes and a fourth-place finish), Houston Rockets wing Amen Thompson (nine first-place votes and a fifth-place finish), LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac (four first-place votes and a sixth-place finish), and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (one first-place vote and an eighth-place finish).

For Green, it’s the ninth time in his career that he’s received votes for the prestigious award, and the fourth time he’s been in the top three, joining a third-place finish in 2020-21, a second-place finish in 2014-15, and, of course, winning the award in 2016-17.

Now we see if not winning makes him play with a chip on his shoulder for the rest of the Warriors first-round series against the Rockets...