The first two months we handed out the Stats & Info Defensive Player of the Month, we gave it to a Spurs player. With the Spurs having a historic defensive season, it seemed like the right choice to make.
The Spurs are coming back down to earth in January (ranking sixth in the NBA in Defensive Efficiency), so we looked in another direction
For January, we’re going with a player that’s had eye-popping defensive numbers the entire season, but that up until January, didn’t translate into effective team defense.
Hassan Whiteside, come on down!