The award is well-deserved for Gasol, who anchored the league’s best defense during the second half of the season.
Gasol had a very humble perspective about his accomplishment when speaking to the press about it at a news conference held in the lobby of the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.
“I’m the first European ever to accomplish this. It’s really an honor. Now I think my kids will believe me when I tell them I played in the NBA. I look at it as the whole team got acknowledged.
“I think it’s a team effort. It’s a team game. There’s no way around it. That’s how we play basketball. We play as a unit. Defensively, you need five guys to play defense. If one of us is not playing defense, we can’t do it.”
Gasol, who finished first in voting with 212 points and 30 first-place votes, was followed by the Miami Heat’s LeBron James (149 points, 18 first-place votes) and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka (122 points, 14 first-place votes).
Unfortunately, he has very little time to celebrate. The Grizzlies have to turn their attention to their home playoff opener facing an 0-2 deficit to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Hopefully, for his sake, his team can rally around the strength of their defense and ride it to a Game 3 victory.
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Michael Brumagin is the “Tweet of the Day” columnist for Sheridan Hoops. You can follow him on Twitter.