Look at the numbers so far this season:

Gerald Wallace: 15.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 steals per game, 2.2 blocks per game.

His 2.5 steals per game leads the league. Thats ahead of perennial top steals guys like Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd. In addition to that when Emeka Okafor went down for extended time with his second serious ankle injury of the season, Gerald was asked to step up and not only continue to harass their opponent’s best perimeter player but to also provide interior help. Hes done that above and beyond everyone’s expectations, blocking shots to a tune of 2.2 per game. Thats top ten and more blocks per game than guys like Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett.

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He is on the pace to become the first player to average 2+ blocks and 2+ steals per game in the same season in the past 15 years. Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns also has an outside shot at it, he is currently posting 2.0 BPG and 1.9 SPG.

The biggest reason that he is deserving of this award is that he plays defense with an energy, fearlessness and reckless abandon that borders on insanity. How else can you explain this scene from the Bobcats/Heat game from earlier this week. Shaq catches the ball 6 feet from the basket, In most circumstances its end of play at this point. Wallace goes for the block, collides with Shaq getting a piece of the ball forcing him to miss the shot and sends him to the line, The collision with Shaq practically knocks him all the way out the three point line, But Crash just gets up laughing and ready for me.

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