Or did he win the award partly for other reasons: (a) he deserved it in past years but was overlooked on lousy Minn teams; (b) he was the best defensive player on the best team in the league.

I've been wondering this for a while. I have no doubt that he is a VERY GOOD defensive player but I don't think his defense impacts the game like other DPOY award winners defense did. Your thoughts?

Hes the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the NBA.

om a side note
Kobe was the best player on the best team in the way harder confrence so he won it. I think if the East was close to as tough as the west then KG probably would have won it. Also the fact that Kobe dealt with injuries to Bynum & Gasol and still won the west and the fact that they beat Hornets in the finals games won it for him.

Camby and KG are the 2 best help defenders in the league bar none. Artest, bowen, and ak47 are the best one on one defenders in the nba.

I think he got that award because he was the best defender on the best defensive team with out a doubt. Statistics don't really tell the whole story with kg.