SAN ANTONIO – Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard has won the 2014-15 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced on Thursday.
Leonard lead the NBA in steals per game with a 2.31 average. He also averaged nearly 6 defensive rebounds per game for the Spurs, which finished third in NBA defensive rating, according to NBA.com/stats.
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Leonard becomes the first Spurs player to win the award since David Robinson in 1991-92.
Leonard received 37 first-place votes and edged out Golden State's Draymond Green for the award.
Green received more first place votes overall (45), but Leonard had a sizeable advantage in second place votes, 41 to 25.
The Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan finished third with 32 first-place votes.
Here's the full voting for the top three players (first-place votes, second-place votes, third-place votes and overall points):
1. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio (37-41-25-333)
2. Draymond Green, Golden State (45-25-17-317)
3. DeAndre Jordan, L.A. Clippers (32-25-26-261)