When there has not been a guard named to the award in 26 years, one winning the NBA’s 2022 Kia Defensive Player of the Year award is kind of a big deal. So much so that the league went out of their way to have the last guard to win the DPOY award (Gary Payton Sr.) tell the award winner for the 2021-22 season (Boston Celtics veteran floor general Marcus Smart) he is to be so honored.
Well earned and well deserved, Smart saw a robust response from his teammates and coaches at Auerbach Center on Monday afternoon, but also had an equally large reaction to his accomplishment on social media.
Let’s take a look at some of the responses on NBA and Celtics Twitter to the Flower Mound native being crowned this season’s Defensive Player of the Year.