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NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo and Rudy Gobert have won the award a record four times.
Sport	Basketball
League	National Basketball Association
Awarded for	Best defensive player in regular season of the National Basketball Association
History
First award	1982–83
Most wins	4 (three-way tie) Dikembe Mutombo, Denver Nuggets/Atlanta Hawks/Philadelphia 76ers (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001) Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz/Minnesota Timberwolves (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024)
Most recent	Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves (2024)

The NBA Defensive Player of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best 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 votes 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. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, named after the two-time defensive player of the year winner.

Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rudy Gobert have each won the award a record four times. Dwight Howard has won the award three times, and is the only player ever to have won it in three consecutive seasons. Sidney Moncrief, Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning and Kawhi Leonard have each won it twice. The most recent award recipient is Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Although five of the first six winners were perimeter players, the award has traditionally been given to big men who rebound and block shots. Only eight perimeter players have been honored: Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Ron Artest, Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Smart. Payton and Smart are the only two point guards to have won. Jordan, Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only winners to have also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) during their careers; Jordan, Olajuwon and Antetokounmpo won both awards in the same season. In Olajuwon's case, he is the only one to have also won the NBA Finals MVP Award and the NBA championship in the same season. Jordan is the only recipient to have also won the scoring title in the same season, when he also became the only player to win the award while averaging over 30 points per game (35.0). 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.

Effective with the 2023–24 season, when a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players' union takes effect, players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for most major regular-season awards, including Defensive Player of the Year. To receive credit for a game for purposes of award eligibility, a player must have been credited with at least 20 minutes played. However, two "near misses", in which the player appeared for 15 to 19 minutes, can be included in the 65-game count. Protections also exist for players who suffer season-ending injuries, who are eligible with 62 credited games, and those affected by what the CBA calls "bad faith circumstances".

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
1982–83	Sidney Moncrief*	Shooting guard	United States	Milwaukee Bucks
1983–84	Sidney Moncrief* (2)	Shooting guard	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (2)
1984–85	Mark Eaton	Center	United States	Utah Jazz
1985–86	Alvin Robertson	Shooting guard	United States	San Antonio Spurs
1986–87	Michael Cooper*	Shooting guard	United States	Los Angeles Lakers
1987–88	Michael Jordan*	Shooting guard	United States	Chicago Bulls
1988–89	Mark Eaton (2)	Center	United States	Utah Jazz (2)
1989–90	Dennis Rodman*	Small forward	United States	Detroit Pistons
1990–91	Dennis Rodman* (2)	Small forward	United States	Detroit Pistons (2)
1991–92	David Robinson*	Center	United States	San Antonio Spurs (2)
1992–93	Hakeem Olajuwon*	Center	Nigeria	Houston Rockets
1993–94	Hakeem Olajuwon* (2)	Center	Nigeria	Houston Rockets (2)
1994–95	Dikembe Mutombo*	Center	Zaire	Denver Nuggets
1995–96	Gary Payton*	Point guard	United States	Seattle SuperSonics
1996–97	Dikembe Mutombo* (2)	Center	Zaire	Atlanta Hawks
1997–98	Dikembe Mutombo* (3)	Center	DR Congo	Atlanta Hawks (2)
1998–99	Alonzo Mourning*	Center	United States	Miami Heat
1999–00	Alonzo Mourning* (2)	Center	United States	Miami Heat (2)
2000–01	Dikembe Mutombo* (4)	Center	DR Congo	Philadelphia 76ers
2001–02	Ben Wallace*	Center	United States	Detroit Pistons (3)
2002–03	Ben Wallace* (2)	Center	United States	Detroit Pistons (4)
2003–04	Ron Artest	Small forward	United States	Indiana Pacers
2004–05	Ben Wallace* (3)	Center	United States	Detroit Pistons (5)
2005–06	Ben Wallace* (4)	Center	United States	Detroit Pistons (6)
2006–07	Marcus Camby	Center	United States	Denver Nuggets (2)
2007–08	Kevin Garnett*	Power forward	United States	Boston Celtics
2008–09	Dwight Howard	Center	United States	Orlando Magic
2009–10	Dwight Howard (2)	Center	United States	Orlando Magic (2)
2010–11	Dwight Howard (3)	Center	United States	Orlando Magic (3)
2011–12	Tyson Chandler	Center	United States	New York Knicks
2012–13	Marc Gasol	Center	Spain	Memphis Grizzlies
2013–14	Joakim Noah	Center	France	Chicago Bulls (2)
2014–15	Kawhi Leonard^	Small forward	United States	San Antonio Spurs (3)
2015–16	Kawhi Leonard^ (2)	Small forward	United States	San Antonio Spurs (4)
2016–17	Draymond Green^	Power forward	United States	Golden State Warriors
2017–18	Rudy Gobert^	Center	France	Utah Jazz (3)
2018–19	Rudy Gobert^ (2)	Center	France	Utah Jazz (4)
2019–20	Giannis Antetokounmpo^	Power forward	Greece	Milwaukee Bucks (3)
2020–21	Rudy Gobert^ (3)	Center	France	Utah Jazz (5)
2021–22	Marcus Smart^	Point guard	United States	Boston Celtics (2)
2022–23	Jaren Jackson Jr.^	Power forward	United States	Memphis Grizzlies (2)
2023–24	Rudy Gobert^ (4)	Center	France	Minnesota Timberwolves

Multi-time winners

Awards	Player	Team	Years
4	Dikembe Mutombo	Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks (2), Philadelphia 76ers	1995, 1997, 1998, 2001
	Ben Wallace	Detroit Pistons	2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
	Rudy Gobert	Utah Jazz (3), Minnesota Timberwolves	2018, 2019, 2021, 2024
3	Dwight Howard	Orlando Magic	2009, 2010, 2011
2	Sidney Moncrief	Milwaukee Bucks	1983, 1984
	Mark Eaton	Utah Jazz	1985, 1989
	Dennis Rodman	Detroit Pistons	1990, 1991
	Hakeem Olajuwon	Houston Rockets	1993, 1994
	Alonzo Mourning	Miami Heat	1999, 2000
	Kawhi Leonard	San Antonio Spurs	2015, 2016

Teams

See also

• NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year Award
• NBA records

Notes

1. A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until he has been fully retired for three calendar years.
2. ^ Won NBA championship in same season
3. ^ Won NBA Most Valuable Player Award in same season
4. ^ Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Nigeria, but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1993.
5. ^ Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 1997.
6. Noah was born in the United States to a French father and a Swedish mother, and has played on the France national basketball team.

References

General

• "Defensive Player of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
• "Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2008.

Specific

1. "Nuggets' Camby Wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 1, 2007. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
2. "Kevin Garnett Wins Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 25, 2008. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
3. "Ben Wallace Wins Fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 8, 2006. Archived from the original on November 28, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
4. Botemps, Tim (June 10, 2021). "Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert wins 3rd career NBA Defensive Player of Year award". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
5. McMenamin, Dave (February 5, 2013). "Dwight Howard trying to avoid 'circus'". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013.
6. Stein, Marc (January 8, 2004). "Defending the little guy". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
7. Moore, Matt (April 7, 2015). "Rethinking Defensive Player of the Year: The Defensive Duo Award". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016.
8. ^ Winderman, Ira (April 24, 2013). "LeBron second in vote for NBA Defensive Player of Year". South Floria Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022.
9. "Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for first time". ESPN.com. April 18, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
10. Velazquez, Matt (August 25, 2020). "Giannis Antetokounmpo is named NBA defensive player of the year and wants to share the credit". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
11. "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
12. Sakamoto, Bob (May 25, 1988). "JORDAN EASILY DEFEATS BIRD IN MVP VOTING". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
13. "By the numbers: Michel Jordan's unparalleled Bull career". NBC Sports Chicago. February 18, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
14. Begley, Ian (May 23, 2012). "Tyson named to all-defensive second team". ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012.
15. McGraw, Mike (June 2, 2014). "Noah dominates all-defensive voting". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
16. Helin, Kurt (April 18, 2023). "More details emerge on new NBA CBA, including details on 65-game threshold for awards". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
17. "Article XXIX, Section 6: Games Played Requirement for Certain League Honors" (PDF). NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. National Basketball Players Association. July 2023. pp. 432–38. Retrieved September 13, 2023. The games played requirement specifically applies to the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Improved Player awards, as well as the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams.
18. Gress, Steve (September 4, 2013). "Looking back at The Glove". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
19. "2025 Hall of Fame Candidates". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
20. "Hakeem Olajuwon Bio: 1992–93". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
21. "Democratic Republic of the Congo". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
22. "Joakim Noah". HoopsHype.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.

• NBA awards
• NBA lists
• Awards established in 1983