NBA Awards: LeBron James finishes fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting

LeBron James finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, according to the league’s tallies. James received one second place vote — worth three points — which was enough to vault him into fifth place.

Warriors forward Draymond Green won the award with 73 of a possible 100 first place votes. Jazz center Rudy Gobert finished second and Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard finished third. Sixers forward Robert Covington, Heat center Hassan Whiteside, Thunder forward Andre Roberson, Rockets guard Patrick Beverly and Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge all received votes.

LeBron receiving any votes for this award is a little surprising. While he’s very good on defense when fully engaged, he isn’t always locked in on that end of the floor. Even if someone were to view him as an elite defender all the time, it’s hard to put him behind the likes of Gobert and Leonard. If James were to receive any votes for specific awards, it likely should have been for MVP.