The OKC Thunder currently have bragging rights as the best defensive team in the NBA, and no one can dispute that.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company rank first in almost every meaningful category on the less glamorous side of the ball, and they have the number one and two players in defensive rating.
Yet, only one can take home the league's illustrious Defensive Player of the Year award.
To Jalen Williams, this is far from an optimal setup. At least, that's what he suggested during his recent appearance on The Young Man and the Three, and, interestingly enough, it seems as if his criticisms are shared by some other key stars across the league.
Thunder star Jaylen Williams's DPOY suggestion is gaining recognition
During his sit down on the podcast, the Thunder stud dropped his honest opinion on the DPOY award, along with the All-Defensive teams, and ways in which he believes the league could go about fixing the formatting.
“I think they should add a third [All-Defensive] team and I think there should be two Defensive Player of the Years. I got a lot to say about the rules... and this is not a diss to any big that gets it, because every big that has gotten it is deserving… but defense is very different for certain players. I can be a really good defender without averaging the most steals... Like Herb Jones is not first in steals but if you ask everybody around the NBA who one of the best defenders in the league is he's going to be in the top-five conversation…It's just a big every year and I feel like they base it off blocks.” Williams said.
This makes sense when you look at it, as the most recent guard to win DPOY was Marcus Smart in 2022. Before this, however, the last guard to win the award was Gary Payton with the Seattle Supersonics back in 1996.
This just goes to show that the award is far more likely to be given to a big man, and the little guy has close to no chance to win.
This proposal would change how many players go about contracts, including Oklahoma City’s own Luguentz Dort who has never been on an All-Defensive team with the current process.
Dort has always received votes, and players consider him to be one of the league's best defenders, but due to there being only two teams, he's never made it on one. Adding in that third team would help a player's case when negotiating contracts and, further down the road, Hall of Fame ballots.
2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown also seems to agree with the Thunder star's take on tweaking the way these awards are handled. Brown knows what it is like to be snubbed himself and have teammates be snubbed from teams as a member of the Celtics.
Players like Brown and Derrick White are considered some of the league's top defenders, yet have no accolades to show for it. This simple change to have two Defensive Player of the Year awards given out and adding a third team for All-Defensive members would ease so many disputes over who has been snubbed for awards.
It will be interesting to see if Adam Silver decides to change this, as he has already mentioned cracking down on the amount of three-pointers taken. If this change does come, NBA players will be thanking Jalen Williams for spearheading the charge.