The Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett has been named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. In spite of early speculation that it would be a close vote, the contest was anything but as runner-up Marcus Camby earned just 178 points compared to KG's 493. Garnett has been an All Defensive First and Second Teamer numerous times, but it's his first time taking home the league's highest defensive honor.

It's hard to argue against the decision here and it might not be the last piece of hardware awarded to KG for his dominance during the regular season ("MVP! MVP! MVP!"). You already know by now that Garnett was a key contributor in the Celts setting the record for the greatest single season turnaround, but what you may not have known is that the Celts allowed just under NINE less points per game this season (90.3 PA) compared to the 2006-07 season (99.2 PA). While that improvement can't be attributed solely to the acquisition and performance of a single player, there's no doubt that KG's 7.3 defensive rebounds, 1.41 steals and 1.25 blocks per game greatly contributed to the monumental turnaround. Congrats to KG; we look forward to seeing his regular season dominance carry over into the remaining games in the Hawks series and beyond, hopefully all the way to the NBA Finals and Banner 17.