Throughout his six-year career with the OKC Thunder, Luguentz Dort has undoubtedly established himself as one of the league's top defensive players.
With his intensity both on-ball and in help situations, and natural ability to step into passing lanes and rack up steals and deflections, the 26-year-old has developed a reputation among his peers as being an absolute pest on the less glamorous side of the ball.
Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has even gone on record to publicly praise Dort, specifically labeling him "one of the top-three defenders in the NBA."
Yet, despite this high-end reputation, the guard has never received any league-issued accreditation for his talents, which, to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, is something that can only be described as "ridiculous."
Over the past few months, there seemed to be some momentum for this trend to finally come to an end in 2025, as many voiced their support for Dort to be in the running for this year's Defensive Player of the Year award.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst went as far as to confirm that he was "considering" voting for the Thunder veteran to take home the illustrious honor.
Of course, in the end, Cavaliers star big Evan Mobley was officially crowned DPOY this past Thursday, edging out his two fellow finalists in Atlanta's Dyson Daniels and Golden State's Draymond Green.
Now, Lu Dort falling short of the top three was something that took many by surprise and drew a ton of criticism from the OKC faithful on its own. However, following the release of a new poll, the case for him being snubbed of mere recognition has only grown stronger.
Thunder guard's DPOY snub strengthened by NBA coaches ballot
On April 24, The Athletic centered on the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year race, specifically focusing on who 13 participating NBA head coaches and assistant coaches believed should be in the running for the award.
The publication's findings were wildly different from how things wound up playing out, for not only was the ultimate winner in Mobley found falling outside the top three in the polling process (totaling the fourth-most points), but Lu Dort found himself finishing in the number two spot behind only the third-year Daniels.
In defense of the Thunder guard, one participant who picked him first on their ballot noted that while guys like Green and Mobley are the leaders of "very good" defensive teams, Dort is part of what is objectively the best defensive unit in the entire league and, in the coach's opinion, he "individually takes the challenge on the other team’s best player."
“There’s times he’s guarding point guards. There’s times when, due to injuries or guys out, they go small and he’s guarding bigs... I think his versatility plays a huge role in that, and his ability to just guard so many positions, I think, is super unique and super impactful in the modern NBA," the coach said.
On the year, Dort clocked in with a ridiculous 107.3 defensive rating and managed to hold his opponents to sub-par shooting splits of 44.7/34.7/78.4 while forcing them into 10.6 turnovers per game.
Even among his teammates, the veteran is considered to be "at the front" of the list when it comes to Oklahoma City's enviable collection of sensational defenders. Based on The Athletic's findings, it is clear that such a sentiment is shared by league personnel residing both within and outside the Sooner State.
It's a shame and, frankly, quite a travesty that the panel of 100 sports writers and broadcasters who actually voted for the end-of-season award didn't share this same belief.