Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard had a surprising take on who he thought the best defender in the NBA is.
While most would expect answers like Kawhi Leonard, Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green, Bam Adebayo or current Defensive Player of the Year candidates in Brook Lopez and Jaren Jackson, Lillard instead picked Oklahoma City Thunder's Luguentz Dort.
“Lu Dort,” Lillard said (via The Athletic). “I think he has the perfect balance of strength, quickness, speed and desire to do it. And he’s young. So I just think he is the best at it.”
It's definitely a unique pick as Dort's defense is among many reasons why the Thunder are making a surprising push for the playoffs this year.
It's also interesting to note that in the Blazers' two defeats to the Thunder in December, Dort was one of the reasons Lillard was held to just 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting in the first loss.
But even Lillard aside, Dort's defense was on full display when he clamped down on Leonard, preventing him from scoring the game-winning shot in OKC's 101-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this month.
“It’s like he is a wall on wheels,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “You are not turning the corner on him. The Leonard play the other night – we’ve seen that countless times in game flow, where it’s like: ‘You are not going anywhere.’ It’s incredible.”
Dort is still only 23 and if he keeps things up in the future, it's only a matter of time until he receives more endorsements from players in the league and starts entering Defensive Player of the Year conversations.
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