The NBA Awards frontrunners are official. Which means it’s time to discuss the snubs. The biggest one this year is Anthony Davis and he’s feeling it too. After he made his feelings about being looked over for Defensive Player of the Year Award known, he got a lot of agreement. One of them is from a former Lakers player himself. Robert Horry, in fact, ripped into the NBA, the DPOY award itself, and one of its most contentious winners from the past.

“The Defensive Player of the Year award has been a joke since they gave it to f**king boy in Memphis,” Horry said on his Big Shot Bob podcast. Though it took a while for him to remember, the Memphis clued everyone in he’s refering to 2013 DPOY winner, Marc Gasol.

“Ever since they gave it to Marc Gasol, I’m like this f**king award is a joke,” Horry bluntly stated. Contradicting his co-hosts, he takes on the whole selection process. He argued that defensive play is more than just blocks. Moreover, he points out that the panel appears to only watch East Coast basketball because the recent DPOY winners are only from the East.

All of these discrepencies, combined with Marc Gasol being one who holds this title, makes the whole DPOY affair a joke to the 7x champion. He doesn’t elaborate on his opinion about the Memphis Grizzlies star but he doesn’t really need to. His title has been a sore spot for over a decade.

Marc Gasol couldn’t savor his award

In 2013, Marc Gasol was the DPOY with 212 points on the ballot and on the All-Defensive Second Team. The fact that he doesn’t make the first team All-Defense put his viability as the best defender on the court into doubt. Some argue he wasn’t a worthy wing player to win.

LeBron James finished second in the voting. It never sat right with anyone, including James who said so in 2020. Gasol responded then and himself admitted that he may have not been the right fit for the award. However, he felt that the Grizzlies earned the defensive award that year and his teammate, Tony Allen deserved it more.

That season, Gasol was third in defensive rating, behind Allen and Mike Conley, his teammates. He averaged 1.0 steals and 1.7 blocks, ranking among the top 10 in both categories that season. Memphis was capable of forcing turnovers frequently, rebounded at a higher percentage, and made the free throw line less whenever Gasol was on the court. James finished 12 in steals playing in Miami which was ranked seventh in defense.

The NBA Awards are always debated. A decade in, maybe Gasol doesn’t fit the image. But in 2013 he and the Grizzlies worked for it.

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