NBA Defensive Player of the Year: An NBA 2K22 analysis
An NBA 2K22 analysis of the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The three finalists for the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year award were Mikal Bridges, Marcus Smart, and Rudy Gobert. As announced earlier this week, Marcus Smart is the first guard since Gary Payton to win the honorable award.
There has been much dispute over who should have won the award this year. For example, Bam Adebayo showed discontent in not being named a finalist. Two-time previous award winner Giannis Antetokounmpo did not make the cut either. Rudy Gobert, who has won the award multiple times came up short as well.
The important question to ask is, what qualities or stats are most important in determining the best defensive player? A contributor from Bleacher Report explains that the best defensive player is one who excels both individually and as part of a system. I agree and believe the best defensive player excels all around the court, not strictly in the paint or perimeter.
NBA 2K22 is a video game that can simulate the real-life impact of NBA players. As an avid player of the game, I decided to highlight key defensive attributes from the game to determine the best defensive player of the three finalists.
The attributes outlined are Perimeter Defense, Interior Defense, Help Defense IQ, and Defensive Consistency, respectively. The candidate with the highest total attribute score from these categories was deemed the winner. Here’s how each candidate fared:
Mikal Bridges: 82+69+85+82= 318
Marcus Smart: 93+74+90+95= 352
Rudy Gobert: 64+97+95+97= 353
The results show Rudy Gobert barely having the advantage over Marcus Smart with Mikal Bridges finishing 3rd. One thing is clear whether it’s real-life or NBA 2K, each candidate has strong arguments for his case.
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It ultimately comes down to the broadcasters and analysts as to who wins. Regardless, congratulations to Marcus Smart on his first Defensive Player of the Year Award. How would you go about determining the Defensive Player of the Year?