Marcus Smart Named NBA Defensive Player of the Year

STILLWATER, Okla. – Former Oklahoma State standout and current Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been named the 2021-2022 KIA NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the NBA announced today. Smart, currently the team’s longest-tenured player in his eighth season with the Celtics, becomes the first guard to win the league’s annual honor since Gary Payton in 1995-96.

Smart finished the year ranked sixth in the NBA in steals per game (1.7), and fifth in defensive win shares (10.3), anchoring a Celtics defense that led the NBA with a defensive rating of 106.2 in 2021-22. He ranked ninth in the NBA and was fifth amongst all guards with a defensive rating of 105.2, while finishing first in the league with 1.1 loose balls recovered per contest.

In being named the league’s top defensive player, Smart joins Kevin Garnett (2007-08) as the only two Celtics players to ever claim the annual honor since its creation in 1982. He is the first OSU alumnus to win the prestigious award.

Prior to his NBA career, Smart was a unanimous selection as both the Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Big 12 Coaches and Associated Press) in 2013. That year, he was also named the Integris Wayman Tisdale Award Winner, presented annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the nation's top freshman.

Following his wildly successful freshman campaign, he was selected as one of five finalists for the Cousy Award, honoring the nation's top point guard and was the only freshman on the list.