NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

National Basketball Association awards and honors
Championship

Individual awards

Honors

head shot of Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is one of four players to have won both an MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year award in their career.
head shot of David Robinson
David Robinson won the award in the 1991–92 NBA season.
Gary Payton is the only point guard to win the award.
Dwight Howard at a game
Dwight Howard has won the award three consecutive times in his career.


The NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points, second-place voted are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.[1][2]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 20 different players. Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace have each won the award a record four times.[3] Dwight Howard is the only player to ever win the award in three consecutive seasons.[4] Sidney Moncrief, Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning, and Kawhi Leonard have each won it twice. The most recent award recipient is Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs.

Although five of the first six winners were perimeter players, the award has traditionally been given to big men who rebound and block shots.[5][6] Only seven perimeter players have been honored: Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Ron Artest (known now as Metta World Peace), and Kawhi Leonard.[7] Payton is the only point guard to have won.[8] Jordan,[9] Olajuwon,[10] David Robinson,[11] and Kevin Garnett[2][12] are the only Defensive Player of the Year winners to have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) during their careers; Jordan and Olajuwon won both awards in the same season.[7] In Olajuwon's case, he is the only one to have also won the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award and the NBA championship in the same season.[10] On four occasions, the Defensive Player of the Year recipient was not voted to the NBA All-Defensive first team in the same year. Robertson in 1986, Mutombo (1995), Tyson Chandler (2012), and Marc Gasol (2013) were instead named to the second team. Whereas the Defensive Player of the Year is voted on by the media, the All-Defensive teams were voted on by NBA coaches prior to 2014.[13][14]

No player trained completely outside the U.S. has won this award. Out of the three winners born outside the U.S., Mutombo and Olajuwon both played U.S. college basketball, and Gasol played U.S. high school basketball. Joakim Noah has played for the France national basketball team, but was born in New York City, and played both high school and college basketball in the U.S.

Winners

^ Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
* Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has received the award
Season Player Position Nationality Team
1982–83 Moncrief, SidneySidney Moncrief Guard  United States Milwaukee Bucks
1983–84 Moncrief, SidneySidney Moncrief (2) Guard  United States Milwaukee Bucks
1984–85 Eaton, MarkMark Eaton Center  United States Utah Jazz
1985–86 Robertson, AlvinAlvin Robertson Guard  United States San Antonio Spurs
1986–87 Cooper, MichaelMichael Cooper[lower-alpha 1] Guard/Forward  United States Los Angeles Lakers
1987–88 Jordan, MichaelMichael Jordan*[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Guard  United States Chicago Bulls
1988–89 Eaton, MarkMark Eaton (2) Center  United States Utah Jazz
1989–90 Rodman, DennisDennis Rodman*[lower-alpha 1] Forward  United States Detroit Pistons
1990–91 Rodman, DennisDennis Rodman* (2)[lower-alpha 1] Forward  United States Detroit Pistons
1991–92 Robinson, DavidDavid Robinson*[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Center  United States San Antonio Spurs
1992–93 Olajuwon, HakeemHakeem Olajuwon*[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Center  Nigeria[lower-alpha 3] Houston Rockets
1993–94 Olajuwon, HakeemHakeem Olajuwon* (2)[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Center  Nigeria[lower-alpha 3] Houston Rockets
1994–95 Mutombo, DikembeDikembe Mutombo* Center  Zaire[lower-alpha 4] Denver Nuggets
1995–96 Payton, GaryGary Payton*[lower-alpha 1] Guard  United States Seattle SuperSonics
1996–97 Mutombo, DikembeDikembe Mutombo* (2) Center  Zaire[lower-alpha 4] Atlanta Hawks
1997–98 Mutombo, DikembeDikembe Mutombo* (3) Center  Democratic Republic of the Congo[lower-alpha 4] Atlanta Hawks
1998–99 Mourning, AlonzoAlonzo Mourning*[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Miami Heat
1999–00 Mourning, AlonzoAlonzo Mourning* (2)[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Miami Heat
2000–01 Mutombo, DikembeDikembe Mutombo* (4) Center  Democratic Republic of the Congo[lower-alpha 4] Philadelphia 76ers
2001–02 Wallace, BenBen Wallace[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Detroit Pistons
2002–03 Wallace, BenBen Wallace (2)[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Detroit Pistons
2003–04 Artest, RonRon Artest[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 5] Forward  United States Indiana Pacers
2004–05 Wallace, BenBen Wallace (3)[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Detroit Pistons
2005–06 Wallace, BenBen Wallace (4)[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States Detroit Pistons
2006–07 Camby, MarcusMarcus Camby Center  United States Denver Nuggets
2007–08 Garnett, KevinKevin Garnett^[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Forward/Center  United States Boston Celtics
2008–09 Howard, DwightDwight Howard^ Center  United States Orlando Magic
2009–10 Howard, DwightDwight Howard^ (2) Center  United States Orlando Magic
2010–11 Howard, DwightDwight Howard^ (3) Center  United States Orlando Magic
2011–12 Chandler, TysonTyson Chandler^[lower-alpha 1] Center  United States New York Knicks
2012–13 Gasol, MarcMarc Gasol^ Center  Spain Memphis Grizzlies
2013–14 Noah, JoakimJoakim Noah^ Center  France[lower-alpha 6] Chicago Bulls
2014–15 Leonard, KawhiKawhi Leonard^[lower-alpha 1] Forward  United States San Antonio Spurs
2015–16 Leonard, KawhiKawhi Leonard^ (2) Forward  United States San Antonio Spurs

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Has won the NBA championship
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Has won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award
  3. 1 2 Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Nigeria, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1993.[15]
  4. 1 2 3 4 Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 1997.[16]
  5. ↑ Ron Artest changed his name into Metta World Peace on September 16, 2011.[17]
  6. ↑ Noah has played on the France national basketball team, and also holds American and Swedish passports.[18]

See also

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "Nuggets’ Camby Wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 1, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Kevin Garnett Wins Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 25, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Ben Wallace Wins Fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 8, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ McMenamin, Dave (February 5, 2013). "Dwight Howard trying to avoid 'circus'". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013.
  5. ↑ Stein, Marc (January 8, 2004). "Defending the little guy". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ Moore, Matt (April 7, 2015). "Rethinking Defensive Player of the Year: The Defensive Duo Award". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Winderman, Ira (April 24, 2013). "LeBron second in vote for NBA Defensive Player of Year". South Floria Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ Gress, Steve (September 4, 2013). "Looking back at The Glove". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Michael Jordan Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
  10. 1 2 "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
  11. ↑ "David Robinson Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Kevin Garnett Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
  13. ↑ Begley, Ian (May 23, 2012). "Tyson named to all-defensive second team". ESPN.com (ESPN Internet Ventures). Archived from the original on March 12, 2013.
  14. ↑ McGraw, Mike (June 2, 2014). "Noah dominates all-defensive voting". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio: 1992-93". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  16. ↑ "Democratic Republic of the Congo". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Artest's Name Change to Metta World Peace Approved". The New York Times. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Joakim Noah". HoopsHype.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014.

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