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NBA Award Watch: Russell Westbrook is Oscar Robertson, the Chicago Bulls are good?

By John Buhler

Oct 28, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after defeating the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after defeating the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) controls the ball in front of Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Kings 106-95. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) controls the ball in front of Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Kings 106-95. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard

Through November 1, newcomer to the Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard edges out the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond and Leonard of the Spurs for Defensive Player of the Year. Howard has won this award three times in his likely Hall of Fame career, yet this one could be different.

Howard is playing extraordinarily well defensively for his hometown Hawks. He is leading NBA in offensive rebounding percentage (23.5), block percentage (9.7), total rebound percentage (25.9), blocks per game (3.3), and total offensive rebounds (17).

It’s as if Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer told Howard that Atlanta is going to love you if you play great defense and dominate on the glass. He is doing that fantastically, leading the best defense in basketball.

Every player on the Hawks through three games has been very good defensively and the metrics show it. Will we see a regression to the mean defensively in Atlanta? Without a doubt, but Howard, Paul Millsap, and Thabo Sefolosha look to be top-tier defensive players at their respective positions.

It was hard to not give Leonard the benefit of the doubt, but Atlanta’s defensive dominance early on is the story nobody is talking about in the NBA.

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