Latest / Bleacher Report / Evan Mobley Reacts to Winning 2025 Defensive Player of the Year _ Inside the NBA

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Evan Mobley Reacts to Winning 2025 Defensive Player of the Year _ Inside the NBA · Bleacher Report

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  Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five Kid Defense Player of the Year goes
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  Speaker 1: to Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, it was a matter of five, Yes, sir. Total
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  Speaker 2: points two hundred and eighty five in the balloting. Dyson
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  Speaker 2: Daniels with one eight one ninety seven was second, and
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  Speaker 2: then Draymond Green third, Lou dort of o k C fourth,
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  Speaker 2: and A Men Thompson of Houston was fifth in the voting.
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  Speaker 3: There's no better defensive player in the world than that
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  Speaker 3: boy in Oklahoma City. He is a man. I'm surprised
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  Speaker 3: he should. He should be up for this award. He
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  Speaker 3: is tremendous.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Dort Well, that's why it indicates that he got
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  Speaker 2: some support too, that you know he was in there.
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  Speaker 3: Should have been a finalists had a no, no, I
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  Speaker 3: didn't know.
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  Speaker 4: I have no problem.
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  Speaker 3: Everyone he earned the award, But dort Man, that kid
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  Speaker 3: is amazing.
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  Speaker 2: Avitza Zoo bots also getting some votes. He was sixth.
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  Speaker 2: Jaron Jackson was seventh and of course the first Cavalier
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  Speaker 2: to take home the honor. As we pointed out as
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  Speaker 2: we as we came on, here's a guy who can
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  Speaker 2: guard one through five. He's six or eleven and will
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  Speaker 2: guard anybody on the floor.
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  Speaker 5: Well, you know, the interesting thing about this award forever
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  Speaker 5: Moldley is that his offensive game has picked up traumatically exactly,
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  Speaker 5: and he wins the defensive ward. So that's that's just
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  Speaker 5: a testament of his not necessarily, not necessarily, but that's
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  Speaker 5: just a testament of his hart work, you know, and
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  Speaker 5: what he's done. You know, obviously, I get a chance.
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  Speaker 5: I live in Los Angeles. I get to see him
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  Speaker 5: in the summer time, and I see the amount of
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  Speaker 5: work he puts in with my guy to guard whisper
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  Speaker 5: and they won his offensive game. But this is an award,
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  Speaker 5: you know that he is. You have to understand team
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  Speaker 5: concepts too, because sometimes, as Shaq Noo and Charles know,
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  Speaker 5: the coaches say, okay, if a guard, we're going under
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  Speaker 5: the picking rolls, and you go, man, that means my
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  Speaker 5: guy's gonna get all wide up and jump this night. Yes,
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  Speaker 5: And so you like you realize that you have to
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  Speaker 5: adjust your game defensively. So that's the shout out to
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  Speaker 5: have him over.
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  Speaker 2: We congratulate you, Defensive Player of the Year. So my
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  Speaker 2: question to you is this, Look, you've you finished third
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  Speaker 2: in that voting. A couple of years ago, you've been
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  Speaker 2: First Team All Defensive. How driven were you to get
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  Speaker 2: this award?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah? Very very driven.
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  Speaker 6: There was a big goal of mine coming into this year.
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  Speaker 6: Let's focused on the majority of the year, and it
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  Speaker 6: just feels great to finally come and get this award.
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  Speaker 1: Evan Shack here first of all congratulators on the award.
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  Speaker 1: How does it feel to be able to guard one
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  Speaker 1: through five as a guy that's six to eleven?
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  Speaker 4: Feels great?
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  Speaker 6: Like I said, my feet, my movement at this size
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  Speaker 6: is I feel like it's unordinary. But it just feels
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  Speaker 6: amazing to finally get this war. That's really the main
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  Speaker 6: thing right now going through my head.
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  Speaker 3: You know, Evan, Kenny and I think these two things
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  Speaker 3: go together. Kenny say, it's weird that you got the
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  Speaker 3: defensive Player of the Year and you exploded offensively, And
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  Speaker 3: I said, those two things go together in my mind
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  Speaker 3: because I don't think any basketball player want to go
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  Speaker 3: to the gym and say just play defense. But I
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  Speaker 3: think now that you're scoring, it makes you want to
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  Speaker 3: be a better defensive player.
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  Speaker 4: Am I wrong?
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  Speaker 6: Yeah? That was going hand in hand all year. I
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  Speaker 6: was trying to figure out how it can be more
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  Speaker 6: offensively productive and still maintain my defensive style and prowess.
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  Speaker 6: So I feel like I had a good job this
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  Speaker 6: year and it clearly shows.
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  Speaker 5: You know, Evan, congratulations obviously, you know, being in LA
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  Speaker 5: I get to see you work out and getting that
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  Speaker 5: work in you and your brother and the rest of
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  Speaker 5: those guys out there with God whispers. But my question
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  Speaker 5: would be is like, as a defender, what do you
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  Speaker 5: think your superpower is? Because you said you got it
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  Speaker 5: one through five? Is it being able to guard a
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  Speaker 5: guard on the perimeter, block shots in the paint, defending
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  Speaker 5: the three point line? What you think your strongest attribute is.
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  Speaker 6: I think it's my versatility being able to guard one
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  Speaker 6: through five, guard the guards, and then also being a
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  Speaker 6: great rim protector as well, coming from the weak side,
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  Speaker 6: help side, and just gardener on ball as well. So
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  Speaker 6: just the versatility of doing all three things and doing
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  Speaker 6: it at all three levels.
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  Speaker 2: Evan, who was with you when we made the announcement
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  Speaker 2: when you saw that you were the defensive player of
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  Speaker 2: the Year.
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  Speaker 6: Yeah, we just got into Miami, like right now, the
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  Speaker 6: whole team was with me and we're all watching the
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  Speaker 6: broadcast with us.
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  Speaker 4: Man man here, Pies.
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  Speaker 3: I like that's pretty cool right there.
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  Speaker 2: And here's hoping that even better days are ahead for you,
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  Speaker 2: Evan and this in these playoff runs and in your career.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks a lot for joining us, and congratulations.
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  Speaker 6: Man, thank you appreciate it.
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  Speaker 4: It's our pleasure.
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  Speaker 2: Evan Mobley, the defensive player.
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  Speaker 3: You know what's really cool about that? And Kenny Shaq
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  Speaker 3: doesn't it?
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  Speaker 4: Is it? It's more fun on the road, isn't it. Oh?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, because you guys, you kid of them as stuck
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  Speaker 3: in the hotel together, do you know, ain't nobody gonna
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  Speaker 3: be cheering for you? You go all go off to
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  Speaker 3: dinner the night before the game, and that to me
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  Speaker 3: was one of the most fun things.
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  Speaker 2: And a chance then as you land and get to
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  Speaker 2: the hotel, here's a chance to celebrate a teammates achievement.
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  Speaker 4: And he got about.
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  Speaker 2: Dinner though I think I think he can afford it.
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  Speaker 2: You're right, that's not a problem, Okay,