Everyone loves a chase-down block. You know the one—the rim-rattling rejection where a help defender flies out of nowhere to swat a layup into the third row. It's the highlight that makes the "Top 10" reels and gets the home crowd screaming. But honestly? If you’re judging the defensive NBA player of the year based on those highlights, you’re probably looking at the wrong things.
Defense is a weird, invisible art. It’s about the shots that don't happen because a guy like Evan Mobley or Chet Holmgren just stood in the right spot for three seconds. It’s the "nevermind" factor—that split second where a driving guard sees Rudy Gobert’s wingspan and decides, "Nah, I’ll just pass it back to the perimeter." You can't put a "nevermind" on a box score.
The 2024-2025 Shakeup: How Evan Mobley Took the Crown
For years, the conversation around the defensive NBA player of the year was basically just a debate over how many trophies Rudy Gobert deserved. But the 2024-2025 season felt different. Cleveland’s Evan Mobley didn't just win the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy; he sort of redefined what we expect from a modern defensive anchor.
Mobley became the youngest winner since Dwight Howard back in 2008. That’s a massive deal. Usually, defense is a "vet" award. It takes years to learn the tendencies of every lead guard in the league, to know exactly when to hedge and when to drop. Mobley just... did it. He led the Cavs to a 64-18 record and the top seed in the East. While his 1.59 blocks per game were great (sixth in the league), his real value was in his versatility.
He’s one of the few humans on Earth who can legitimately guard a shifty point guard on the perimeter and then recover fast enough to protect the rim against a rolling center. The voting reflected that. He grabbed 35 first-place votes, edging out Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels—who was a total menace with steals—and the ageless Draymond Green.
Why We Stop Caring About Blocks (Mostly)
There’s a common misconception that the league leader in blocks should automatically be the defensive NBA player of the year. If that were true, Victor Wembanyama would probably own the trophy for the next decade.
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Wemby is a freak of nature. He averages 3.6 to 4.0 blocks per game. It’s terrifying. But blocks can be misleading. Hassan Whiteside used to hunt blocks like a madman but often left his team’s defense in shambles because he was constantly out of position.
True defensive impact is now measured through "Impact Metrics" like EPM (Estimated Plus-Minus) or D-LEBRON. These stats try to account for everything the box score misses. They look at how a team’s defensive rating changes when a player is on the floor versus when they’re sitting on the bench.
- Rim Deterrence: How often do opponents even try to shoot near the basket?
- Deflections: Disrupting the flow without necessarily getting a steal.
- Switchability: Can you survive on an island against Steph Curry?
The "French Connection" and the All-Time Greats
It's kinda wild that three of the most dominant defenders of the last decade are French. Joakim Noah started the trend in 2014, and then Rudy Gobert turned the award into his personal property, winning it in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024.
Gobert is now tied at the top of the mountain with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Four trophies. That is the gold standard for a defensive NBA player of the year. But Gobert’s wins have always been polarizing. Critics point to his struggles when teams "play him off the floor" in the playoffs by going small.
That’s the limitation of the award: it’s a regular-season honor. It rewards the guy who makes your team a top-five defense over 82 games. It doesn't necessarily crown the guy you’d want guarding the best player in the world in a Game 7.
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The Current Race: Chet vs. Wemby (2025-2026)
As we sit in the middle of the 2025-26 season, the race is basically a two-man sprint between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama.
Chet is the betting favorite right now, sitting at roughly -200. Why? Because the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best defense in the league, and Chet is the reason why. He’s been more "disciplined" than Wemby this year. He doesn't chase every block; he just stays vertical and forces misses. His rim protection percentage is actually beating Wemby’s by about 5%, which is a stat that nerds (and voters) absolutely love.
Wemby has the "wow" factor, but health has been a headache. He’s already missed time with a calf strain and a knee issue. In the new NBA, you have to play at least 65 games to be eligible for the defensive NBA player of the year award. If Wemby misses six more games, he's out. Period.
What Most Fans Miss
We tend to focus on the "big men," but perimeter defense is harder than it’s ever been. The rules are heavily slanted toward the offense. You can barely touch a guy without getting whistled.
This is why guys like Marcus Smart winning in 2022 was such a shock. It broke a long streak of centers winning the award. To be a guard and win, you have to be more than just "good." You have to be an absolute pest who ruins the other team's entire game plan.
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Notable Perimeter Winners:
- Sidney Moncrief: The original winner (1983, 1984).
- Gary Payton: "The Glove" remains the only point guard to truly dominate the conversation in the 90s.
- Kawhi Leonard: Won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016 before his offensive load became too heavy to maintain that same energy.
The Financial Stakes: It's Not Just a Trophy
Winning defensive NBA player of the year isn't just about pride. It’s about tens of millions of dollars.
When Evan Mobley won, it triggered a "contract escalator" in his deal. His salary for next season jumped from $38.7 million to $46.4 million. Over the life of his contract, that one award is worth about $45 million in extra cash.
That’s why you’ll see players lobbying for it. It changes their tax bracket. It also changes their team's cap situation. The Cavs are now over the "second apron" because of Mobley’s win, which limits how they can build the rest of their roster. It's a high-stakes game.
Actionable Insights: How to Spot the Next Winner
If you want to stay ahead of the curve and predict who will be the next defensive NBA player of the year, stop looking at the blocks column. Instead, follow these three indicators:
- On/Off Splits: Look at how many points per 100 possessions a team gives up when the player is on the court versus off. A difference of -5.0 or more is elite territory.
- Team Defensive Ranking: The winner almost always comes from a top-three defensive team. If a guy is great on a bad team (like Wemby was his rookie year), he usually won't win.
- Versatility Metrics: Check out "matchup data." Does the player spend time guarding multiple positions? The "switchability" factor is the tiebreaker in the modern NBA.
Keep an eye on the 65-game threshold as the season winds down. A single rolled ankle in March can disqualify the frontrunner and hand the trophy to someone else entirely.
The race for the defensive NBA player of the year is no longer just about who is the tallest or the strongest. It’s about who is the smartest. It's about the guy who can solve a complex offensive puzzle in real-time, possession after possession.