If the season ended today, the top two finishers in Defensive Player of the Year voting would be, or at least oughtthey will be Victor Wembanyama and Dyson Daniels in that order. On Monday night, they were matched with an eight in the stat column most closely associated with their respective defensive prowess.
Wembanyama recorded eight blocks in the Spurs’ loss to the 76ers, while Daniels had eight steals in the Hawks’ win over the Timberwolves.
Wembanyama, in particular, is on another level defensively right now with a whopping 29 blocks combined in his last four games. On Saturday, he became just the sixth player in history to record 30 points and 10 blocks in the same game and is now the first player since Anthony Davis to block at least eight shots in two consecutive games.
This is the 63rd consecutive game in which Wembanyama has recorded at least one blocked shot, a Spurs record. He had four blocks in the first quarter and six within the first 16 minutes on Monday. Oh, by the way, Wemby also hit six 3-pointers in Philadelphia. The only other player in history to block at least eight shots and make at least six 3-pointers in the same game is Brook Lopez, who did it in 2017.
Filter the blocks up to seven, and from NBA With the 3-point line added 45 years ago, López remains the only one not named Wembanyama to block seven shots and make six three-pointers in the same game. Wemby has done it twice in less than 100 career games.
Meanwhile, Daniels, the Australian also known as “The Thief of the Great Barrier” (one of the best nicknames you’ll ever hear) – brought his league-leading steal total to 89, 33 picks more than the next most successful stealer, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (56). Wembanyama, for its part, leads the league in blocks by 31 (95-64 over Walker Kessler). Those are ridiculous margins.
Daniels’ 89 steals are the most in the first 28 games of a season since Nate McMillan in 1993, according to NBA College. Monday’s eight steals are not only a career-high for Daniels, but also mark the sixth time this season he has had at least six steals.
No one has had six steals in six different games in a full season since Chris Paul in 2008-09. Again, Daniels has done it in 28 games. Hell, there have only been four such games among all other players in the league combined this season.
Together, Daniels and Wembanyama are the only two players in the league to have made 10 actions (steals plus blocks) in a game this season. Daniels had two blocks on Monday in addition to his eight steals, making him the youngest player in history to do that.
If Daniels can stay healthy, he has a real chance of becoming just the seventh player in history, and the first in 35 years, to have 250 steals in a single season. So far he has only missed two games and is averaging 3.2 steals per night. He has 14 in his last two games alone.
It may be difficult for some voters to properly rank Daniels on the DPOY scale given that the Hawks are near the bottom 10 on defense, but that’s just a delusional stance. This guy isn’t just a robo dealer; It disrupts everything. He also leads the league in deflections by a mile. Every night he takes on the most difficult defensive tasks and makes life miserable for the best scorers in the world. Minnesota star Anthony Edwards was 7 of 20 from the field on Monday with five turnovers.
In a world where Wembanyama didn’t exist, Daniels would have a legitimate case as the best defender in the world.
