Lakers' Marc Gasol on LeBron James-DPOY: 'We Can Talk over It with Some Wine'

Marc Gasol agrees with LeBron James' assessment that his 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award could have gone to someone else.

He just doesn't necessarily think it belongs to LeBron.

The Lakers big man addressed James' comments in a recent interview with Dave McMenamin of ESPN. 

"We can talk over it with some wine if he wants to. If it's anybody's trophy, I believe that trophy is for the Grizzlies," Gasol said. "The team that deserved to have that trophy was the Grizzlies. For some reason they picked me. If anybody could claim that trophy, it's Tony Allen. At the same time—not that I want to or care about—but I could say I've been stolen from All-NBA First Team defensively. I believe I should be there, but I don't care. We can have a good laugh about it if he wants to. If not, I'm sure he can go get it this year too if he wants to."

James recently appeared on the Road Trippin' podcast, saying Gasol has "my Defensive Player of the Year trophy at his house."

LeBron finished second to Gasol in the voting and arguably had a claim as the league's best defender during the 2012-13 season. Gasol won the award thanks in large part to the overall defensive brilliance of the Grizzlies and his presence in the middle, whereas James was (and remains) a more versatile defender who was capable of defending five positions at that point in his career.

Until the narrative began switching in recent seasons, DPOY was overwhelmingly given to centers. Ron Artest was the only non-big man to win Defensive Player of the Year from 1997 to 2014.