Draymond Green really wants to be the Defensive Player of the Year this season. In fact, he even said so on his podcast with Baron Davis. “I felt like all year, I was having a first-team All-Defense-caliber type of year, all year,” said the Warriors star about why he should win it. But amidst all this, the No. 1 team in the West this season, the OKC Thunder, had Luguentz Dortz snubbed from the list of DPOY finalists. While we’ve learned that it may be because of an ESPN reporter, one of Dort’s teammates chose to throw shade at Draymond himself.
You see, over the past few weeks, Draymond Green has repeatedly made his case for DPOY. However, the issue is that the 4x champ isn’t just doing it on the court. No. Dray has been really vocal about why he should be given his second DPOY nod. Now, credit where credit’s due, Draymond is a phenomenal defender. Even so, his case for winning DPOY seems PR-driven to many.
One such person is the OKC Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein, who made the case for his teammate Lu Dort to win the prestigious honor. “Maybe I gotta start a podcast with Lu man, I don’t know,” said Hartenstein, the subtle dig not going unnoticed.
And who knows, maybe going that route could work! It got Draymond on the list. At least, according to many. But Hartenstein also explained why Lu deserves it. “He’s been great. I mean, the finalists are great defenders, but I mean, just watching Lou do what he does on a nightly basis. I think that’s what people don’t see and what the stats don’t show. So he’s been great all year. To me, he was [the] defensive player of the year,” he finished.
Isaiah Hartenstein on Lu Dort not being a DPOY finalist “I might need to get a podcast with Lu.” pic.twitter.com/mlVQ9GF5gy
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) April 21, 2025
This year, Dort has been a key piece in what is arguably the NBA’s best defense right now. The Thunder led the league in virtually every defensive stat this season. Defensive rating, points conceded off turnovers, steals, points conceded in the paint, you name it! So, Hartenstein’s assessment of Lu’s year is spot-on! That’s because Lu Dort’s role in anchoring this defense is something we can’t overstate even if we tried.
He’s among the best perimeter defenders in the league, and his job in the Thunder’s defense is simple. Dort usually guards the best player on the opposing team. And there’s probably no better example of this than their recent blowout game 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Dort held Ja Morant to 17 points off 6-17 shooting as the Thunder ran away with the win.
However, it seems even being at the heart of the league’s best defense wasn’t enough for Lu to get the DPOY shout. You see, the media plays a big role in determining who ends up on the finalist’s list. And ESPN’s Tim Bontemps might be the culprit behind Lu Dort getting snubbed despite his stellar season.
Tim Bontemps blamed for Draymond Green making the DPOY finalist’s list over Lu Dort
You see, it wasn’t just Lu Dort who didn’t make the cut for the DPOY list of finalists. None of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s players made it onto the list despite the stellar year their team had defensively. And the media plays a huge role in this. They select players for their ballots. This serves as a vote for that player worth different amounts of points depending on how high they’re placed on the ballot.
And it seems Tim Bontemps picked Draymond Green instead of Dort, or any other OKC player, for his ballot. So, he got teased for it on the Hoop Collective podcast. “Lu Dort, not a finalist. I’ve heard from good sources. Six feet nine, two hundred sixty pounds, sources who own bars in the area say that Bontemps is to blame… That’s what I hear. I heard Bontemps in the finals. His scholarship has been revoked,” said Tim McMahon.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Lu Dort (5) were roommates last season. asdfasd CREDIT: © BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
The voters finally selected Draymond Green, Dyson Daniels, and Evan Mobley as the finalists for Defensive Player of the Year. Over the years, voters have snubbed a lot of deserving players. Remember when they snubbed LeBron James and gave the award to Marc Gasol instead? Weirdly enough, Gasol didn’t even make the All-Defensive team that season! The argument that year was that Gasol played a pivotal role in Memphis’ league-best defense. So it made sense to give him the nod over LeBron. However, by that same logic, you’d think Lu Dort should’ve been a finalist, at the very least.
Sadly, it seems the same standards never applied to Dort. It could be because he’s not a veteran and a star like Dray. Or the narrative switch after Wemby’s injury and Draymond’s incessant campaigning may have shifted the way media and others viewed this year’s contenders. Regardless, Dort’s coach, Mike Daigneault, believes his star defender is worthy of being DPOY, even if Mike has no intentions of swaying the media or changing the narrative.
“The only thing I’ll say about that, is I think the way that his teammates respond to that — both the way they handled the build up to it, how hard they were pulling for him, and then the response they had to it, which was disappointment for him — I think speaks volumes. Not only to his impact as a defender, but more importantly, to his gravity and impact inside the locker room,” said Daigneault.
Ultimately, it’s just sad to see such an incredible season go unnoticed. However, Lu Dortz is still only 26. So, it’s not like he’ll never have the chance to make the DPOY list again. All he needs is to keep doing the same thing he’s done on the court for OKC this season: defend like a bat out of hell. Or who knows? Maybe the podcast isn’t a bad idea.
The post Draymond Green’s Alternate Career Under Fire as ESPN Reporter Blamed for Derailing Multiple DPOY Campaigns appeared first on EssentiallySports.
