For the second straight year, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Leonard is a defensive leader for the Spurs, who allowed the fewest points per game during the regular season, giving up three points fewer per contest than the Utah Jazz in second.
Individually, Leonard tallied 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. He ranked fifth in the NBA in Defensive Real Plus-Minus as the only non-power forward or center in the top 25.
Leonard is just the second perimeter player in NBA history to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Milwaukee's Sidney Moncrief in 1982-83 and 1983-84, the first two seasons the award was given.