NBA NEWS - KEVIN GARNETT WINS 2007-08 NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - April 2008

Kevin Garnett wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award- NBA photo

Garnett helped the Celtics to league-best records of 66-16 (.805) overall and 31-10 (.738) on the road. Boston held opponents to just 90.3 points (second in the NBA) after allowing 99.2 points per game a season ago.

NEW YORK,, NY USA - Friday April 25, 2008

GARNETT IS THE BIG D

The NBA announced that Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the recipient of the 2007-08 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. The 6-11 forward led the Celtics in rebounds with a 9.2 average (7.3 defensive rpg), to go along with 18.8 points, 1.2 blocks and 1.4 steals. He recorded a team season-high seven blocks against Chicago on Dec. 12.

As part of its support of the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kia Motors will donate a brand-new 2009 Kia Borrego seven-passenger SUV on behalf of Garnett to Boston Centers for Youth and Families, the cities’ organization supporting the same youth as Kevin’s “Big Ticket Challenge” program. Kia Motors will present a Borrego to the charity of choice of each of the four year-end award winners in 2008 as part of the “The NBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors.”

Garnett helped the Celtics to league-best records of 66-16 (.805) overall and 31-10 (.738) on the road. Boston held opponents to just 90.3 points (second in the NBA) after allowing 99.2 points per game a season ago. Garnett led the Celtics to the biggest one-year turnaround in NBA history as the team won 42 more games this season than in 2006-07 (24-58), surpassing the previous record of 36 games, set by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1997-98 season.

The 12-year NBA veteran became the 32nd player in league history to record 20,000 career points on March 8 against Memphis. Garnett is only the fourth active player to reach this milestone, joining Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal (26,296), Denver’s Allen Iverson (22,988) and Kobe Bryant (21,619) of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Garnett received 493 points, including 90 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Denver’s Marcus Camby, who won the award last season, finished second with 178 points and Houston’s Shane Battier finished third with 175 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

2007-08 NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Player........................ Team........................ 1st....... 2nd....... 3rd........ Pts

Kevin Garnett ............Boston .......................90 ........12........... 7....... 493

Marcus Camby .........Denver .......................12 .........32 .........22.......178

Shane Battier ............Houston .....................11 .........33 ..........21......175

Bruce Bowen ...........San Antonio .................7 ...........7 ..........24 ........80

Kobe Bryant ............L.A. Lakers ............... .--..........10 ..........10 ........40

Josh Smith ...............Atlanta ..........................1 ............6 ..........11 .......34

Chris Paul ................New Orleans .................1 ...........4 ............7 ........24

Dwight Howard .......Orlando .........................1 ............4 ............7 .......24

Tim Duncan .............San Antonio ..................-- ............6 ............4 .......22

Tayshaun Prince .......Detroit ..........................-- ............3 ............4 .......13

Tyson Chandler ........New Orleans .................1 ............1 .............2 .......10

ALL-TIME NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Season ..............Winner.............................. Team

1982-83............ Sidney Moncrief................ Milwaukee

1983-84 ............Sidney Moncrief ............... Milwaukee

1984-85............. Mark Eaton...................... Utah

1985-86 .............Alvin Robertson................ San Antonio

1986-87 .............Michael Cooper................ L.A. Lakers

1987-88 .............Michael Jordan................. Chicago

1988-89 .............Mark Eaton....................... Utah

1989-90 .............Dennis Rodman.................. Detroit

1990-91............. Dennis Rodman.................. Detroit

1991-92 .............David Robinson..................San Antonio

1992-93 .............Hakeem Olajuwon..............Houston

1993-94 .............Hakeem Olajuwon..............Houston

1994-95 .............Dikembe Mutombo ............Denver

1995-96 .............Gary Payton....................... Seattle

1996-97 .............Dikembe Mutombo............ Atlanta

1997-98 .............Dikembe Mutombo............ Atlanta

1998-99 .............Alonzo Mourning, ...............Miami

1999-00 .............Alonzo Mourning................ Miami

2000-01 .............Dikembe Mutombo............. Philadelphia

2001-02 .............Ben Wallace........................ Detroit

2002-03 .............Ben Wallace......................... Detroit

2003-04 .............Ron Artest............................ Indiana

2004-05 .............Ben Wallace.......................... Detroit

2005-06 .............Ben Wallace.......................... Detroit

2006-07 .............Marcus Camby...................... Denver

2007-08 .............Kevin Garnett........................ Boston

(NBA)