Two players who comprise four of the last five NBA Defensive Player of the Year winners have pulled away from the pack on the latest awards ladder.
Reputation matters when it comes to an award such as NBA Defensive Player of the Year. It can take time to build that reputation, but once it’s built, it’s there.
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So it should not come as a huge surprise that as two players have broken away from the pack on version 3.0 of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder, it is two players who are multiple-time winners of the award.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is looking to become the first player to be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year three consecutive times since Dwight Howard did it from 2008-09 through 2010-11 and just the second player ever to be so honored.
Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace were named NBA Defensive Player of the Year a record four times each, but neither player won three consecutive seasons. Mutombo was named in 1996-97 and repeated in 1997-98, while Wallace went back-to-back in both 2001-02 and 2002-03 and again in 2004-05 and 2005-06, an unprecedented run of four wins in five seasons.
There’s a bit of irony in the fact the one season Wallace didn’t win during that run was 2003-04 … the year the Detroit Pistons captured the NBA title. Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers — yes, the Artest now known as Metta World Peace — was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year that season.
The other leader pulling away from the rest of the ladder is Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers, who won the award in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 while a member of the San Antonio Spurs.
While Gobert has a chance to match Howard’s three straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year wins, Leonard can join Mutombo, Wallace and Howard as the only players to win the award at least three times.
The five rungs on the ladder underwent a bit of a shakeup since the last time it was published on Jan. 11.
The knee injury sustained by Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac has now knocked him off the ladder, as he has fallen below the threshold of 68 percent of his team’s games — in line with Gobert having played the fewest games of any previous winner with 56 in 2017-18. Isaac had been No. 4 the last time the ladder came out.
The other player to fall completely off the ladder made the longest fall possible, all the way from the top rung. Yes, Jimmy Butler is a victim of his team’s poor defensive play over the last four weeks, going from No. 1 to off the charts after the Miami Heat ranked just 20th in the NBA with a 113.1 defensive rating since Jan. 11.
Through Jan. 10, the Heat were 13th in the NBA with a rating of 107.0, but have slipped to 14th while their defensive rating has climbed to 108.5. Miami is just 7-6 over that span, although their net rating of plus-3.5 is unchanged.
Proof once again that defense is a key component of winning, even in the NBA, where offense is king.
So let’s climb the ladder.
Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers remains fifth on the NBA Defensive Player of the Year ladder, holding his spot after averaging 1.9 blocks and 1.5 steals per game over the eight games he appeared in since Jan. 11.
Davis blocked five shots on an emotional night at Staples Center on Jan. 31, as the Lakers played their first game since the death of Kobe Bryant while losing to the Portland Trail Blazers 127-119. He also put together three blocks and three steals on Thursday night when the Lakers fell at home to the Houston Rockets.
He is currently third in the NBA, averaging 2.4 blocks per game and ranks 14th with 1.5 steals a night, as well.
Davis has the necessary credentials to win the award, having been named All-Defensive three times in his career as well as leading the NBA in blocks three times.
The only substantial drop off in his play from a defensive standpoint since being traded from the New Orleans Pelicans last summer is on the defensive boards, where he is grabbing 7.1 per game, well off the 8.9 he averaged last season. That fall is also reflected in his defensive rebounding rating, which is a career-low 21.9 percent this season.
Part of that can be attributed, however, to playing with a pair of strong rebounding centers in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard. Aside from a season or so with DeMarcus Cousins, Davis never played alongside another particularly strong rebounder while he was in New Orleans.
LeBron James does not rank among the league leaders in either steals or blocked shots. But defense is more than statistics and the Los Angeles Lakers’ star has seriously stepped up his defensive play after being severely criticized for his indifference on that end last season.
That isn’t to say James can’t pick the ball when he wants to. He had five steals against the New York Knicks in L.A.’s 100-92 win at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 22, the most he’s had in more than two years, since getting six for the Cleveland Cavaliers in a win over the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on Jan. 6, 2018.
It was the 36th time in James’ career he’s had at least five steals in a game. His career-high of seven swipes came in his second season in a road win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 13, 2004.
At the time, it was the most steals in an NBA game ever recorded by a teenager (James was 19 at the time). That mark was broken by Jrue Holiday, who had seven steals for the Philadelphia 76ers as an 18-year-old on March 26, 2010.
The Lakers have the fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA this season at 106.1. Four weeks ago, L.A. was third on that list at 104.5, but their defense fell off to 13th over the team’s last 12 games, posting a 111.2 defensive rating. Their net rating has fallen from plus-7.9 to plus-7.0 in that span, falling from second to third in the NBA in the process.
But the Lakers, with 38 wins, already have topped last year’s victory total and have won more games already in 50 games this season than they have since they finished 45-37 in 2012-13, the last time Los Angeles went to the playoffs. James’ defensive renaissance has been a big part of their success this season.
At age 35, James would also be the oldest player to ever be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year — one of the few awards he hasn’t won. Dikembe Mutombo was in his age 34 season when he won the award in 2000-01, a season he split between the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers to become the only player to be DPOY in a season playing for more than one team.
While LeBron James would become the oldest player named NBA Defensive Player of the Year were he to win it in 2019-20, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum would become the youngest.
Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic was 23 years, 128 days old at the end of the 2008-09 season before winning the first of his three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, slightly younger than Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs in 1985-86 (23 years, 265 days) and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard in 2014-15 (23 years, 290 days).
Tatum won’t be 22 until March 3, although he is in his third NBA season, whereas Robertson was in his second year when he was named DPOY in 1985-86.
Tatum isn’t among the league leaders in steals or blocks, either, but he is second among qualifiers for this ladder in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus at plus-4.03 — trailing only the plus-4.78 of LeBron James. He is also eighth in Luck Adjusted Real Adjusted Plus-Minus according to NBA Shot Charts
Kris Dunn of the Chicago Bulls has a DRPM of plus-4.11, but has not played the necessary 27 minutes per game; the fewest by a DPOY winner was Michael Cooper‘s 27.5 in 1986-87.
Tatum had a massive all-around game on Wednesday as the Celtics beat the Magic at TD Garden, getting three steals and two blocks to go with 33 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
In 10 games since the last DPOY Ladder was published, Tatum has 16 steals and nine blocks and for the season is averaging 1.4 thefts and 0.9 steals a night. He was a big reason why the Celtics posted the third-best defensive rating in the NBA over the last four weeks at 106.9. Boston is third in the NBA for the season at 105.3 as well.
Over the last four weeks, Kawhi Leonard played in 10 games, notching 20 steals and 10 blocks while the LA Clippers were 9-1 when he played; 0-2 when he did not. Included in that most recent stretch was his season-high five steals to go with a block, 39 points, six rebounds and six assists in LA’s narrow win at New Orleans on Jan. 18.
It was the 23rd time Leonard has had at least five steals in a game, and the first since March 26, when he had six against the Chicago Bulls while still with the Toronto Raptors.
Leonard is third among ladder qualifiers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus at plus-3.93 and trails only Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela in FiveThirtyEight’s Defensive RAPTOR metric at plus-4.2.
Leonard is fifth in the NBA this season, averaging 1.9 steals per game. This would be his fourth career top-10 finish in the category if he maintains that pace; Leonard led the NBA with 2.3 steals per game in his first Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2014-15.
His 2.8 steal percentage is seventh in the league and the Clippers — 36-15 on the season — are 31-8 when Leonard is in the lineup and just 5-7 when he is rested — ahem — I mean, out with an injury.
It is the playing time that could end up costing him a third DPOY honor, particularly if it comes down to a race with a player who is in the lineup nearly every night.
Utah Jazz behemoth Rudy Gobert rises one spot to the top rung on version 3.0 of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder and could be in position to win the award for a third consecutive season.
Gobert is fourth in the NBA at 2.0 blocks per game and on Jan. 25 posted his sixth game this season with at least five blocks when he swatted five shots in a win over the Dallas Mavericks. It was the 38th time in his career Gobert has blocked at least five shots in a game.
Among players with at least 40 games played this season, Gobert is eighth in the NBA defending within six feet of the rim, allowing opponents a field goal percentage of 48.8 percent in that zone.
Gobert, who was selected for his first All-Star Game appearance this season, continues to be a defensive nightmare in the paint, both with his rim protection and his defensive rebounding, where his 10.7 boards per night on the defensive window ranks third in the NBA, trailing only Andre Drummond (11.2) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (10.9).
He’s second in the NBA in overall rebounding at 14.4 per game. Drummond leads the NBA at 15.8 a night.
In the defensive metrics, Gobert is the runaway leader in Defensive RAPTOR at plus-7.0, while he is sixth among ladder qualifiers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus at plus-3.25.
While none of these defensive metrics by themselves is an end-all, be-all, looking at them within the context of consistency can paint a picture of how players are faring at the defensive end (along with the good old-fashioned eye test, of course).
Rudy Gobert continues to pass all of those tests, which could propel him to a history-matching third consecutive NBA Defensive Player of the Year trophy.