Milwaukee Bucks: 3 noble goals for Jrue Holiday during 2021-22 season

Goal No. 3 – Jrue Holiday winning Defensive Player of the Year with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2021-22 season

Holiday has been endlessly praised by his peers for his efforts defensively during his time in the NBA, racking up three All-Defensive selections to show for it. Yet, some players, Holiday included, seemingly believe that he deserves to add a certain piece of hardware to his trophy cabinet to truly commemorate his efforts on that side of the ball.

Andre Iguodala, the 2015 NBA Finals MVP and former teammate of Holiday’s led this charge on a previous appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast. Iguodala, who boasts two All-Defensive nods, stated that Holiday “should have been Defensive Player of the Year two or three times,” and that the guard should be a lock to be on First Team All-Defense every season because he is simply that good defensively.

Holiday has never genuinely gotten the proper consideration for the league’s most prestigious defensive-oriented award, but he believes he should. Speaking to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes in an interview this past season, Holiday confidently stated that he believes he should be a staple in the conversation for the award every single year without question.

"“Man, I feel like I’m the Defensive Player of the Year every year,” Holiday told Yahoo Sports in an exclusive phone interview. “I’m not joking about that. And I know this is my opinion, and other people have different opinions and they’ll probably think I’m crazy. But I think what I bring defensively on the court, a lot of people don’t really do, to be completely honest."

Not too many people will find themselves disagreeing with Holiday’s assessment, particularly the players that he guards on a nightly basis. If the guard can have yet another phenomenal season on the defensive end in 2021-22, not only could the 31-year-old get another All-Defensive selection, but Defensive Player of the Year on top of it, which would be a long time coming.

As arguably the best defender at the guard position in the league, it might not be as far-fetched as some would think.