San Antonio Spurs' All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard has been named the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced on Monday.

The 24-year-old Leonard helped the Peter Holt-owned team to finish second in the highly competitive Western Conference with a remarkable record of 67 wins and 15 losses.  The 2011 NBA draft 15^th overall pick claimed the annual award for the second consecutive year, becoming the first non-center player to be worthy of the honor in back-to-back seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

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According to the official website of the NBA, Leonard garnered 84 first-place votes and 547 total points from a committee of 130 broadcasters and sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada. He outpointed Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat.

Green, who finished as runner-up for the second time around, received 44 first-place votes and 421 points while Whiteside got two first-place votes and 83 points to end third place.

As per the rules, players were given five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

The listed 6-foot-7 forward is a defensive leader for the Spurs, who led all NBA teams in points allowed (92.9 ppg) and defensive rating (96.6 points per 100 possessions). San Antonio had a defensive rating of 94.9 with Leonard on the court and 99.2 when he was not.

Individually, Leonard is the 12^th best player in steal per game averaging 1.78 steals, 5.5 defensive rebounds and 1.0 shot blocked per contest, along with career highs on the offensive end of 21.2 points and 2.6 assists per outing. He is ranked fifth in the NBA in Defensive Real Plus-Minus as the only non-power forward or center in the top 25.

Leonard is just the second perimeter player in the NBA history to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Milwaukee Sidney Moncrief in 1982-83 and 1983-84, the first two seasons the award was given.

TagsSan Antonio Spurs, nba defensive player of the year, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Hassan Whiteside, Golden State Warriors, NBA 2016, Miami Heat