The NBA announced Wednesday that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was named the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, marking the third time he has won the award.
Of the 16 first-place votes that didn’t go to Gobert, 15 went to Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons, who ultimately finished in second in the voting with 287 total points.
Green came in third with 76 points, which seems like far too few given how tremendous he was defensively throughout the whole season.
The Warriors had the fifth-best defense in the NBA this season, which was an incredible accomplishment given that Klay Thompson missed all of it, and they had a 19-year-old center who was limited to just 39 games.
For one, two of Simmons’ teammates also received votes, which should serve to further separate Green from him and the rest of the pack.
Had Green not been left off of half the ballots, there’s a good chance the voting would have more accurately acknowledged just how phenomenal he was.