Bucks’ Antetokounmpo named 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo joined another elite list Tuesday, being named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Antetokounmpo is just the fifth player in league history to win both MVP and DPOY in a career, joining Kevin Garnett, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. Only Jordan and Olajuwon won the award in the same season. Antetokounmpo, who was tabbed MVP last season, is a finalist for the award again this season.

Antetokounmpo won the DPOY convincingly, earning 75 first-place votes and 432 total points. The Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis was second, with 14 first-place votes and 200 points with Utah’s Rudy Gobert (6, 187) finishing third.

Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez received four third-place votes to finish 10th in the voting.

Antetokounmpo topped the NBA in several defensive categories in 2019-20: Defensive Rating (97.4 via NBA.com; 97.1 via basketball-reference), defensive rebounds (716); Defensive Box Plus/Minus (4.1) and Defensive Win Shares (5.0).