ESPN's DPOY Forecast Has Me Triggered Online
It's been a long long time since I found myself getting triggered online due to a basketball topic, but when I saw that tweet come across my timeline last night I couldn't help myself. I mean what the fuck am I reading? This isn't really about Giannis being the leader in the clubhouse for DPOY, he certainly has his case. But the rest of this list is one of the most outrageous things I have ever seen. For starters, Anthony Davis should not be third. It's between him and Giannis for the DPOY and I really won't entertain any other take. They have had the two most dominant defensive seasons in the entire league. Period. Not sure how Gobert finds his way to the second spot.
But that's not even the biggest joke on this list. Maybe quarantine has ruined my eyes, but that says Patrick Beverley right?
Someone is going to have to explain to me how two players who are at this point pretty much locks for the two guard sports for All NBA First Team Defense somehow come in behind Patrick Beverley in DPOY votes. This isn't even only about my beloved Smart getting snubbed. Ben Simmons is a billion times better as a defender than Patrick Beverley as well. Not only that, but it's not even a lock that Beverley makes the Second Team All Defense! Eric Bledsoe and Kyle Lowry could very well snag that second set of guard spots, and they are nowhere to be found either. Even if Beverley does somehow make it over someone like Lowry, he's not better than the two dudes that ya know, MADE FIRST TEAM ALL DEFENSE.
Simmons has locked down essentially every single star player he guards this season. Even as a Celtics fan I can admit that because I have eyes. Marcus Smart as a point guard handles all five positions at an elite level. Yes, even 7 foot centers. Patrick Beverley do that?
I'm going to lean towards no. Now don't take this as me saying Beverley is a poor defender. He's not. His defensive metrics are legit. But don't sit here and then tell me he's more of a DPOY candidate than either Ben Simmons or Marcus Smart. That's just flat out wrong whether you want to use advanced statistics or the fucking eye test.
My hope is this is just another case of ESPN not knowing what the hell they're talking about. There is just no way AD is that low and Beverley is that high when it's all said and done while leaving off the two guards that are having the best defensive seasons of anyone at the position. You only want to choose one of them for this top 5? Fine by me. But leaving both off is one of the most outrageous things I've seen this entire quarantine. It's offensive really.