Thunder's Jalen Williams wants to see 2 major changes to DPOY Award

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As the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, they look to solidify their place at the top of the Western Conference. Though Thunder star Jalen Williams has spoken about being an All-Star, he also gives an interesting idea about the criteria for Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) and how the All-Defensive teams are categorized.

At the end of the season, besides the DPOY award, the NBA decides the players that are on the first and second All-Defensive teams. However, the offense gets three teams which Williams said on the “The Young Man And The Three” show that he has a “big thing with that.”

“I think they should add a third team,” Williams said. “I have a big thing with that, I don't know how there's 3 teams offensively and there's only 2 teams defensively. So I think they should add a Defensive 3rd Team.”

However, the point that Williams made was not as a way to hype himself up, but his teammate Lu Dort who has not made an NBA All-Defensive team. In his opinion, Dort deserves some recognition for his defense as in his time with Oklahoma City, he spoke about how Dort always has the “hardest matchup.”

“He definitely deserves it,” Williams said of Dort. “At least while I've been here, these last 3 years, he's had the hardest match-up every year, every game for 82 plus games. Last year, played 100 games, he has the best player for 100 games, the whole game. I don't know how you don't get it, I don't make the rules. I think they should add a 3rd team and I think there should be 2 Defensive Players of the Year.”

Thunder’s Jalen Williams believes two people should win DPOY

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The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is no doubt in contention for the MVP award, but there is no doubt Williams believes others on the team should get some type of acknowledgment. Besides the NBA extending the All-Defensive teams to three, he even thinks that the DPOY award should have two winners, one being a big man and another a guard.

“It would be like a Big and a Guard,” Williams said.  “They do 2 different things. Its just a big every year and I feel like it's just based on blocks. Like a Guard's never had to protect that paint, and a Big has never had to chase a pin-down.”

Since the 2017-18 season, only one guard has won the award which was Marcus Smart with the Boston Celtics in the 2021-22 season. In every other year in the time span, it had been a big man with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Rudy Gobert winning it three times.

At any rate, the bevy of the talent on the Thunder will keep impressing as they are 32-6 which puts them first in the Western Conference.

The post Thunder’s Jalen Williams wants to see 2 major changes to DPOY Award appeared first on ClutchPoints.

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