Preventing some of the most talented basketball players from putting the ball through the hoop has always been a thankless task. The old adage may say that “defense wins championships”, but at the end of the day, elite offense always beats good defense — especially in today's NBA, where defenders seem to get whistled for even the slightest of contact due to the league's emphasis on freedom of movement and spaced-out offenses.

But this only serves to separate the truly elite defenders from the merely good ones, and as is the case in every season, there are a few players who have managed to rise above the rest of the pack en route to serious contention for the coveted 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

Voters for the Defensive Player of the Year award certainly takes narrative into consideration, as evidenced by Marcus Smart's meteoric rise last season on the way to being the first point guard to win the prestigious defensive accolade since Gary Payton in 1996, so this list will not only take merit into account, but also the likelihood that voters favor certain candidates.

The ability to rack up defensive stats will play a huge part in their candidacies, but their overall defensive performance, especially their ability to elevate their team's defense, will be what separates the most deserving winner of the DPOY from other candidates.

With that said, these are the top five candidates to win the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy as the most worthy candidates to win the 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

1. Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies

Before Jaren Jackson Jr. made his season debut for the Grizzlies on November 15, 2022, Memphis was leaking points left and right. For their first 14 games, they had a defensive rating of 112.4, which put them at 20th in the NBA. Since then, the Grizzlies have been the third-best defensive team, just behind the stifling defenses of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, and at the heart of their rise into one of the best defensive units in the NBA has been Jackson.

However one slices it, Jackson is an elite defensive presence, and there may not have been a more impactful defensive player than him this season.

For starters, among the players who defend six or more field goal attempts at the rim per game, Jackson ranks number one in field-goal percentage allowed, at 51.2 percent, altering shots left and right even if he may not block everything. Players he defends at the rim shoot 13.1 percentage points worse when going up against Jackson, the third-best mark in the league by a razor-thin margin. (Brook Lopez ranks first and Walker Kessler ranks second.)

An incredible litmus test of Jackson's defensive impact was the Grizzlies' contest against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 29. With Jackson out, the Clippers feasted from everywhere on the court, with Russell Westbrook's ability to put pressure on the rim stretching the Grizzlies perimeter defense beyond its breaking point. But with Jackson back for the next game, the Clippers had difficulties working the inside-out game, en route to a blowout win for the Grizzlies.

Beyond Jackson's intimating rim-protecting presence (3.0 blocks per game), it's his mobility on the perimeter that puts him a class above Lopez, arguably his biggest competitor for the award. At 6'11, it's incredible how nimble Jackson's feet are on the perimeter.

It's funny how a conspiracy theory threatened to derail Jackson's 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year campaign. But barring an inexplicable late-season change of heart from voters, the Grizzlies big man should be taking home his first DPOY award in a few weeks' time.

2. Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks

This may always get brought up whenever Brook Lopez's candidacy for the 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, but it's incredible how the Bucks big man has transformed his game. Lopez began his career as an offensive-minded, post-centric big man who wasn't particularly adept at impacting the game on the defensive end. But now, Lopez is a bonafide two-way star, for the best team in the NBA in the Bucks no less.

Lopez may not be too mobile a defensive presence on the perimeter, which limits his versatility in certain matchups, but the Bucks center is the simply the best at what he does — protecting the rim in a drop coverage-centric defense.

And the Bucks' drop coverage puts so much pressure on Lopez to contain both the ball-handler and roller (he has defended the most shots in the NBA this season), but Lopez's smarts and underrated ability to process the nuances of what the offensive player wants to do in the blink of an eye allows him to anchor their defense with ease.

As a result, the Bucks have the fourth-best defense in the NBA, and at full strength, there may not be scarier defense to face than theirs, given Lopez's synergy with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday on that end of the floor.

However, given the thin margins separating all the worthy candidates in this list, it's fair to give the nod to Jackson by virtue of him being more matchup-proof.

3. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers

Speaking of matchup-proof defense, Cavs big man Evan Mobley thrives as one of the league's most underrated defensive presences. It's surprising that there's not much buzz regarding Mobley's 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidacy, or even buzz regarding his solid sophomore season, but despite flying under the radar, Mobley is as good a defender as they come. He should win a few DPOY awards for his career, barring injuries.

Michael Pina of The Ringer took a deep dive into what makes Mobley such a game-changing presence on that end of the floor, but the thesis of his argument is simple: despite standing at 7'0, Mobley is as defensively versatile as they come. He allows one of the lowest marks in the league when defending isolation plays, and his defensive awareness, communication, and chemistry with Jarrett Allen are all top-notch.

With Mobley staying healthy for much of the season (78 games played), the Cavs have posted the best defensive rating in the NBA, and he should play a huge part in stifling the likes of Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo as they try to mount a deep playoff run.

4. Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets

A breakout star for the Nets, Nic Claxton has become not only one of the most active defenders in the NBA (he ranks in the top five for contested shots this season), he has also become one of the most difficult players to score on, whether at the rim or at the perimeter.

But the Nets' defense hasn't particularly been the most stifling unit (they rank 13th in defensive rating). While that has been through no fault of the former second round pick, it simply is much more justifiable to reward comparable defenders on better defensive teams.

5. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat

Bam Adebayo's luster on the defensive end has waned a bit in recent years ever since his breakout 2019-20 season. He hasn't been able to rack up as many defensive stats (specifically blocks) as he did in the past, which has led some to believe that he hasn't been the same impactful force he has always been on defense.

Make no mistake about it, Adebayo is still one of the best defenders in the association, remaining consistent as ever as the lynchpin of the Heat's top-10 defense. His ability to contain opposing ball-handlers makes him such a swiss-army knife on that end of the floor, and that should not go unnoticed with a few down-ballot DPOY votes.

Honorable mention: OG Anunoby, Toronto Raptors; Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves; Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors