LeBron James, reminiscing on his illustrious career, revealed that losing the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award to Marc Gasol remains a sore point for him.
Back in 2013, during his MVP season with the Miami Heat, James narrowly missed out on the DPOY accolade, finishing second in the voting behind Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol.
In a recent episode of The Shop, James expressed his frustration, highlighting the irony of Gasol winning DPOY despite not making the NBA All-Defensive First Team.
Reflecting on his decorated career, James emphasized that the absence of the Defensive Player of the Year trophy from his collection is a notable omission that still bothers him.
“Defensive Player of the Year,” he said. “That’s the only award that I don’t have in my house that kind of stings. I talked about this before. It don’t make sense… The year I finished second in Defensive Player of the Year award, the guy who won Defensive Player of the Year didn’t even make First Team All-Defense.”
Despite numerous accolades and accomplishments throughout his career, including four NBA championships and four MVP awards, the DPOY recognition continues to elude James.
