Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, beating out Golden State’s Draymond Green and Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels.
With the Cavaliers winning 64 games during the regular season and earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Mobley has a legitimate chance to become the sixth player in NBA history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award and the NBA championships in the same season.
Mobley would join the following list of defensive immortals in accomplishing the feat, and would hypothetically be the youngest to do so at 23 years of age.
Michael Cooper (L.A. Lakers) 1987
Michael Cooper became the first player to win the Defensive Player of the Year and the NBA Finals in the same season with a stellar ‘87 campaign. Coop served as the defensive centerpiece of the ‘80s Showtime Lakers, making the first or second All-Defensive teams eight times during the decade.
Cooper won his fourth of five NBA championships in ‘87, although that was his only Defensive Player of the Year award. Cooper would have also had a case to win the 1982 Defensive Player of the Year Award had it existed at the time, but Sidney Moncrief won the inaugural award in 1983.
Dennis Rodman (Detroit Pistions) 1990
One of the most iconic defensive players etched his name amongst the greats with his first NBA championship and his first Defensive Player of the Year award in 1989-90. Rodman’s signature toughness and bravado were some of the driving forces behind the “Bad Boys”, which was simply the most fearsome defensive core in the sport’s history.
Rodman would go on to win the Defensive Player of the Year award again the following season. Rodman would embark on a short stint with the San Antonio Spurs from 1993-95 before he was traded to Chicago, where he revitalized his career after a down year in 1994 and solidified his position in the Basketball Hall of Fame with three more titles in Chicago. Rodman made first-team All-Defense seven times between 1989-1996, only missing the cut in ‘94.
Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) 1994
The Dream became the third player in NBA history to achieve the feat in 1994. Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets over the New York Knicks in a classic series, winning Games 6 and 7 after going down 3-2 to what appeared to be a team of destiny.
Not only that, Olajuwon also won the MVP and Finals MVP ‘94, completing what was arguably the greatest individual season for a player in league history.
The 1993-94 season was the first of consecutive NBA Finals runs for the Rockets. It was also the second of consecutive Defensive Player of the Year seasons for Olajuwon. He averaged 3.7 blocks per game in 93-94, although that was actually only the fifth-highest output of his career.
Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics) 2008
Kevin Garnett was already a wily veteran when he became the fourth player to do both in 2008. Though Garnett made the NBA All-Defensive first team a remarkable nine times during his career, 2008 was the only season he was awarded with Defensive Player of the Year.
Garnett would have likely won a few more DPOYs during his career had he not shared the era with other all-time great defensive players like Ben Wallace and Dwight Howard. It was also the season Garnett achieved his crowning accomplishment in the NBA, leading the Boston Celtics to a rather decisive NBA Finals win over the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) 2017
A year after a Draymond Green’s suspension in Game 5 arguably cost Golden State a historic championship in 2016, he avenged himself and his team by becoming the fifth and most recent player to win both the NBA Finals and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season.
Green’s 2017 season was one of the most stifling defensive campaigns in NBA history. He led the NBA with 2.0 steals per game while also matching his career-high with 1.4 blocks per game. Green was considered a substantial favorite to win the 2025 award only a few weeks ago, but he finished third in the voting behind Mobley and Daniels.
