Kawhi Leonard is starting to rack up the accolades early in his NBA career.

After winning the Finals MVP award in 2014, Leonard brewed a reputation for being one of the stingiest defenders in the league. During those Finals games agains the Miami Heat, Leonard consistently stifled the offensive attack of LeBron James, and people took notice.

Now, for the second consecutive season, Leonard has been named as the Defensive Player of the Year.

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Leonard is the first player to win the DPOY award twice in a row since Dwight Howard in 2010 and 2011. He's the first player to achieve that feat in the Western Conference since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993 and 1994.

At just 24 years of age, Leonard will surely be in the running for this honor many more times before his career is up. The record for most Defensive Player of the Year awards in a career is four, shared by Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.

The 67-15 San Antonio Spurs had the best defense in the NBA statistically, and they were even better when Leonard was on the court. They led the league in points allowed with 92.9 ppg and defensive rating (96.6 points per 100 possessions).

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Without Kawhi on the floor, that rating was actually 99.2. With him? 94.9. His impact is staggering, whether you're looking at a stat sheet on the game itself.

Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat finished second and third, respectively.

Leonard's 84 first place votes easily topped the 44 given to Green, while Whiteside ended up with just two (he had a number of second and third place votes).