The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award just recently got a new namesake in Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon won the award in the 1992-93 season and then again in 1993-94. Over his career, he made five All-Defensive First Teams, and four All-Defensive Second Teams and is still the league’s reigning all-time block leader. Traditionally, the honor is bestowed upon the best shot-blocking big in the game, which earned Rudy Gobert three of the last five awards, but there are exceptions.
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, for example, is not a rim-protecting big. Marcus Smart hounds ballhandlers, lock down the perimeter, and was the driving force behind the Boston Celtics’ top defense last season, which made him the first guard since Gary Payton in the 1995-96 season to win the award. This season, Smart is unlikely to defend his position as the league’s top defender, but there are plenty of players worthy of the honor, so let’s look at the top six candidates to win Defensive Player of the Year.
Jaren Jackson Jr.
The young Memphis Grizzlies are rising through the NBA ranks, led by Ja Morant and his electrifying offensive game, but Morant is not the only sensation on their roster. Jaren Jackson Jr. is not just one of Morant’s running mates on offense but also acts as the team’s fearsome rim protector. He had a delayed start to the season due to an injury and played only 11 games so far. That is why he was not included in the NBA’s latest Defensive Player of the Year Ladder, but even after only a few games, he is already the betting favorite to win the award.
Jackson has always been a good defender but this season, he has taken his shot-blocking to a new level. He averages 3.3 blocks, which would lead the league if he had played enough games to qualify for the rankings. Despite going through the process of returning from an injury and offseason surgery, it did not take Jackson long to tie the Grizzlies’ franchise record for blocks in a game with eight and record more blocks than the most recent big man Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert. So far this season, there have been four games in which a player recorded at least five blocks and three steals, and Jackson is responsible for three of those games.
He does much more than just swat away any shot attempt in sight for the Grizzlies, though. At the beginning of the season, the team struggled defensively and ranked toward the bottom of the league in that category. Since Jackson made his season debut, they are back up to having one of the best defenses in the league, and his shot-blocking has a lot to do with that. Jackson rarely guards one of the toughest assignments because the Grizzlies like to have him on the help side with the freedom to roam the paint and clean up any shot opponents dare to take.
Opponents actually shoot a league-low 50.8 percent when Jackson defends the rim, and most of the time shots do not even get close to the basket. With a 7’5 wingspan and a quickness that allows him to get to the rim in the blink of an eye, Jackson is sure to get his hands on the majority of shots.
Thanks to the very same length and quickness that makes him such a good shoot blocker, Jackson can also defend out on the perimeter and harass shooters, which makes him so valuable to the Grizzlies’ who need to mask some of his teammates’ defensive limitations. The league is very much aware of Jackson’s defensive talent, bestowing All-Defensive First Team honors on him last season.
It is not unlikely that he will earn that honor again this season and also make a run for the Defensive Player of the Year award. One thing, Jackson needs to improve on defense is his fouling, but some of that should come along as he matures beyond the young age of 23. Besides that, Jackson will also have to stay healthy over the rest of the season to make up for the time he missed, but as of now, it does not look like he will slow down anytime soon.