Giannis Is The Defensive Player Of The Year And The MVP Is Up Next

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(Yahoo Sports) - Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Antetokounmpo is the anchor of a Bucks unit that had the top defensive rating (103.36) in the league. He’s one of the few players in the NBA capable of guarding all five positions.

Antetokounmpo is also the favorite to win Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. 

The 25-year-old superstar has the opportunity to join Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only two players to win both awards in the same season.

Call me crazy, but I think this Giannis fella has a future in basketball. Back to back MVPs and now a DPOY award to his resume is pretty damn impressive. I know there will be some upset Lakers fans who will complain Anthony Davis got robbed, and honestly I have no problem if either won. You could make a case for both. But what I do know is that the Bucks were historically great on the defensive end and a lot of that has to do with Giannis. When comparing these two this is how it stacks up

- Giannis has a lower Drtg (97 vs 102)

- Giannis had a better defensive win share (5.0 vs 4.4)

- Giannis had a better DBPM (4.1 vs 2.6)  

- AD had a better STL% (2.0 vs 1.5)

- AD had a better BLK% (6.0 vs 3.0)

so it's not like this is some outrageous decision that anyone other than Lakers fans would be upset about. Giannis was a two way monster this year and he's bringing home the hardware to prove it. Now of course for each of these guys the only hardware that truly matters is the trophy they give out at the end, but this is still a pretty crazy accomplishment for Giannis to achieve at just 25. You do something that only Jordan and Hakeem The Dream have done and that's pretty special. I know the MVP isn't official but it would be bullshit if he didn't win that as well. I don't care how many "narrative based voters" vote for LeBron. Giannis is the MVP. 

There is no denying that Giannis changes the game on the defensive end to the same degree that he punishes opposing defenses on the offensive end and its why he's everything you could want in a franchise cornerstone. The jumper needs work and all that, but when you combine an unstoppable force on offense with the best defender in the league on defense, that seems pretty good.

So while this isn't a surprise I'm also not ready to say this is the last DPOY he ever wins. The man is just 25 and doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon

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I'm sure Lakers fans will react totally normal to this news. My guess is they'll pretend like they don't care the same way once LeBron doesn't win the MVP they will say they don't care about that either. Better hope they win the whole thing because they are running out of trophies.