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The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award is annually given to the most outstanding defensive player of the regular season. Throughout league history, several Hall of Famers have claimed the award. While it was a walk in the park for some, others had to endure a neck-and-neck race to call themselves an elite defender.
The winner for 2024-25 has not been announced. However, the NBA named the finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, which includes Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks, and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Surprisingly, the four-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves was not named a finalist despite playing enough games to be eligible. With no clear favorite for this year's award, here is a look at past close votes. Let's rank the 10 tightest NBA Defensive Player of the Year races in NBA history.
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1. 1988-89 (Mark Eaton 26, Hakeem Olajuwon 25, Dennis Rodman 23)
In a battle between defensive-minded big men, Mark Eaton, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dennis Rodman pieced together the tightest race for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. It's safe to say that Eaton prevailed thanks to his blocks average, rejecting 3.8 shots per game. It was enough to convince voters to earn him just one more vote than Olajuwon to take the award.
2. 1993-94 (Hakeem Olajuwon 23, David Robinson 22, Dikembe Mutombo 19)
Just five years later, Olajuwon found himself in another tight NBA Defensive Player of the Year race. However, he ultimately prevailed to capture his second straight DPOY. In the 1994 edition, Olajuwon prevailed against Robinson by just one vote. The two-time NBA Finals MVP was a worthy winner thanks to his defensive win shares of 6.6. It's worth noting that Olajuwon captured his first NBA title in the same year.
3. 1997-98 (Dikembe Mutombo 39, Gary Payton 37)
It's always an interesting race defensively when the top two candidates are a center and a perimeter player, especially two that went into the Hall of Fame based largely on their defense and had both previously won the award. But this time around, it was the big man who prevailed. Mutombo not only had a superior blocks average with 3.4 a game, but he also had better defensive win shares and defensive box plus/minus compared to Payton.
4. 1982-83 (Sidney Moncrief 14, Tree Rollins 10)
In another guard-big man race for the DPOY, this time around it was guard Sidney Moncrief who prevailed over a big man in Tree Rollins by just four votes. Naturally, Moncrief had more steals per game, averaging 1.5 swipes. He also had higher win shares with 13.2 and had a better defensive rating with 103 to become the first recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year Award in NBA history.
5. 1985-86 (Alvin Robertson 27, Manute Bol 22)
Alvin Robertson was a menace defensively at the perimeter during the 1985-86 season for the San Antonio Spurs. He registered superior win shares of 4.6 and a defensive rating of 103. He also tallied 3.7 steals per game. As a result, Robertson was able to take down the 7-foot-7 Manute Bol despite the latter averaging 5.0 rejections per game as a rookie.
6. 1983-84 (Sidney Moncrief 19, Mark Eaton 14)
A season after winning the first-ever award, Moncrief established his defensive dominance in the NBA by conquering his second straight Defensive Player of the Year Award. Moncrief found a way to edge out another giant in Mark Eaton. Averaging 1.4 steals per game, Moncrief had a far superior win shares and defensive win shares with 12.7 and 4.2, respectively. As a result, it's easy to see why he got more votes.
7. 1991-92 (David Robinson 46, Dennis Rodman 39)
Back in the day, David Robinson and Dennis Rodman were nightmares in the frontcourt. As a result, it's not surprising that these two influential big men dueled it out for the Defensive Player of the Year Award. It turned out to be a slim margin of victory for Robinson, who garnered just enough votes to win. The Spurs big man blocked more shots with 4.5 per game. Furthermore, he had better win shares with 13.9.
8. 1986-87 (Michael Cooper 25, Alvin Robertson 16, Mark Eaton 10)
Usually, statistics play a big part in the awards race. However, that wasn't the case for Michael Cooper. He came off the bench for the most part of the 1986-87 season, but he was always tasked to defend the brightest stars, including Larry Bird. Despite having inferior numbers compared to Robertson and Eaton, Cooper garnered enough votes to win the DPOY Award.
9. 1989-90 (Dennis Rodman 49, Hakeem Olajuwon 35)
Rodman and Olajuwon were fixtures for the DPOY race for several seasons. But in the 1990 edition, it was the former who finally prevailed and captured the first of his two DPOY Awards. It was certainly a neck-and-neck race, as Olajuwon posted better numbers, averaging 4.6 blocks per game. On the other hand, Rodman tallied 0.7 blocks per outing. Statistically, the former Pistons big man was far inferior. However, voters felt that his impact transcended the box score.
10. 2014-15 (Kawhi Leonard 333, Draymond Green 317)
The races for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award are usually not close in the modern era. However, the 2014-15 race was an exception. Both players are versatile defensive specialists who impacted winning teams, making this race one of the tightest in league history. But in the end, it was Kawhi Leonard who prevailed.
However, it wasn't without controversy as Green had 45 first-place votes compared to Leonard's 37. Leonard won because of a voting system that gave five points for a first-place vote, three points for second place, and one point for third. Green ended up second because quite a few voters left him off their ballots altogether.
