By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After a dominant run from Walter Tavares, who won three of the last four EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year Awards, the prize now comes back to a guard.
Celebrating his third straight Final Four appearance with Olympiacos, Thomas Walkup was named Best Defender of the Season for the first time in his career, being the first player from the Greek side to win this award since Bryant Dunston in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
According to the official EuroLeague’s press release, “[Thomas] Walkup anchored Olympiacos’s top-ranked scoring defense, which allowed a league-low 74.4 points per game on its way to a third consecutive Final Four berth”.
Moreover, he has captured a league-high total of 60 steals, averaging the competition’s second-best 1.6 per game. 21.7% of his team’s steals came thanks to him.
Adam Hanga was the last non-center to win such an award with Baskonia in the 2016-17 season, while Thomas Walkup is the first point guard to win it since Dimitris Diamantidis, who was named for his 6th and last time Best Defender of the Year in the 2010-11 season with Panathinaikos.
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