Mark Medina
LOS ANGELES – Throughout the 2025-26 season, LA Clippers forward Kris Dunn has annoyed Luka Dončić, limited Anthony Edwards and impressed his teammates and coaches for the same reason.
Dunn has become one of the NBA’s most dependable and consistent defenders, prompting both Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and star Kawhi Leonard to vouch for Dunn to collect some individual hardware.
“It’s a no brainer that he’s definitely a First-Team All-Defensive guy,” Lue said.
Leonard echoed that Dunn “for sure should be First Team All-Defense this year.” Both Lue and Leonard argued Dunn should have landed the honor last season. But he became disqualified per the NBA’s rules that players have to play at least 20 minutes in at least 65 games. Dunn appeared in 74 games in 24.1 minutes per contest, but played under 20 minutes in a combined 18 games. This season, Dunn has played under 20 minutes in only two games. More importantly, the Clippers (32-32) enter Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves (XX) in Play-In Tournament contention partly because of Dunn’s defensive versatility.
“He’s a lockdown defender,” Lue said of Dunn. “Usually in the case when you have great defenders like that, they are good on-ball defenders. But they’re not really good off the ball or they’re not really good in team defense. But he’s all of it.”
Dunn spoke to Sportsnaut about his defensive play, his chippiness with Dončić, Kawhi Leonard’s leadership and more.
Editor’s note; The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.
How do you evaluate your season so far?
Dunn: “I think it’s been going well. I try to stay consistent through the ups and downs that we went through as a team. Collectively as a group, I thought that even though we started off badly at the beginning of the season. I thought we fought our way back to put ourselves in a good position to be in the Play-In and maybe do something to get into the playoffs.”
Beyond health, what did you all do to spark the turnaround?
Dunn: “Honestly, I think just the urgency. As we started to lose, guys started to really see us dropping in the standings. I think the urgency just picked up, honestly.”
Kawhi and T-Lue think you should be on the All-Defensive First Team. What do you think?
Dunn: “What do you think?”
It doesn’t matter what I think. It seems like it, but you’re the one playing.
Dunn: “It doesn’t matter what I think, either. There were times that I felt like I did a well job defensively. But at the end of the day, whoever votes for the award, votes for the award. So I don’t really try to get into that. But I’m very appreciative of my teammates for Kawhi and T-Lue to advocate for me.
“I don’t really try to get into that stuff and the voters. I’m just appreciative of the front office, T-Lue and my teammates. They know what I bring to the table. I just try to keep doing it each and every night.”
What would the honor mean to you?
Dunn: “It would mean a lot to me. I take pride in defense. Each and every night, I love guarding the best players. It gets my blood going. It just does something for me. So to bring that back home to my family, especially with what we went through in my career, it would be a super honor.”
You mentioned about loving to guard the best players. Why does that bring the best out of you?
Dunn: “I think it was since I was a little kid and playing at the park. I just wanted the kids to talk smack to me at the park, honestly. So I took pride in that. It just carried with me through AAU, high school and college and now all the way to the pros.”
You and Luka have had a thing going…
Dunn: (Interrupts) “Oh yeah. Absolutely.”
What’s up with all of that? What do you make of all that?
Dunn: “I think it’s just friendly competition, honestly. He’s a really good player. I know he’s a really good player. So my goal is to make his job hard. He talks smack. Everyone knows that. I love it, honestly. People think I get irritated, but I actually love it.”
What does he say?
Dunn: “To be honest, I don’t know. I really don’t know. But I love it, honestly.”
He didn’t take kindly to it. From his perspective, he thought you were doing stuff that was crossing the line.
Dunn: “Luka said that?”
Yeah.
Dunn: “I have no idea. If that’s what he wants to go with, that’s fine. There’s things. Whatever. If that’s what he wants go with, then that’s fine.”
I looked up your matchup data on Anthony Edwards. You held him to 6-for-17 clip. What was key to do that?
Dunn: “The same thing that I try to do with everybody. I just do what I do. I try to be physical. I try to read the offense that they get into. I try to be disruptive with it. Then honestly with the teammates I have around me, they help me out. Then we rely on the defensive schemes that we have with JVG [Jeff Van Gundy].}”
With all the stuff that you’ve been through in your career with injuries and being on different teams, how did that all shape you?
Dunn: “It shaped me tremendously. I’ve been through a lot with God, Jesus and my family being there and having that faith to keep going. That just allowed me to mature and understand what it means to be a pro, how to approach every day and how to be strong mentally. It’s about taking care of your body, going out there and giving it your all. Then, honestly, when good things do happen, enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
T-Lue praised your leadership. What have you tried to show with this group?
Dunn: “They make fun of me because I’m not the one to be like the captain of the team or the vocal leader. I’m vocal in the locker room. I like to have fun. I make light of things. But in the huddle, I’m not going to break us down or anything. I give that to the other people. I want to go out there and compete each and every day. I think people bond to that. I cheer on my teammates. I want everybody to do well. I see how hard everybody is working. After the game, you just try to keep the energy high in light of the things that we do well and just try to have fun with it.”
Speaking of leadership and defense, what jumps out to you on how Kawhi fills those two buckets?
Dunn: “The way he brings it each and every night. With teams doubling, sometimes he doesn’t get the whistle from the refs. But he doesn’t complain too much. He’s a stone-faced killer. There are times where he puts the team on his back. But he’s still got it defensively. When he turns it on, you can just see it. He rips the ball from people. As a leader, he shows up each and every night for us. He comes in. With the way he takes care of his body and the way he works on the off days, those are the things that we see and the things we follow.”
With Darius joining the group, what has been the process with adjusting without James and welcoming Darius into the fold?
Dunn: “DG has been phenomenal. With DG, he’s been here for a couple of weeks. But I feel like I know him already for a couple of years. His energy is through the roof. He’s super talented on the floor. He brings a different juice to the game and a different pace. The way he can find open shooters, the way he can get his own buckets. But with the pace, he brings a different flow to the game. What he’s done in a few games, imagine when he really gets his feet under him and his legs under him. I think we can do something special here.”
Mark Medina is an NBA contributor for Sportsnaut. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads
