5 Greatest defenders who never won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award

The NBA Defensive Player of the Year award has often rewarded the greatest defenders in every era of the league since it was created in 1982.

However, we have seen some superstar defenders who the award has evaded for several reasons. In this article, we will list the five greatest defenders who did not win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

5 defensive specialists who never won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award

Whether other defenders simply did a better job or their team was not good enough, some defensive specialists have not managed to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

The game of basketball will always require a great defensive commitment from any side that expects to fight for an NBA championship.

We often see the term 'two-way player' to describe an athlete who makes a solid impact on both sides of the basketball floor.

Still, the term is often used with players who are mainly attacking in nature. This article will be exploring their prowess on the other side of the court.

Without further ado, let us start with the five greatest defenders who could not win the NBA DPOY.

#5 LeBron James

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers blocks a dunk by Aron Baynes #46 of the Boston Celtics - 2018 ECF.

LeBron James will not be a player known for his defensive abilities in upcoming decades, as he has displayed a plethora of other skills on the basketball court. Still, his defensive presence has been overlooked by many.

Despite being one of the most versatile defenders in history, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year has evaded him so far. It remains one of the very few trophies that 'The King' has not been able to win yet in his illustrious career.

There are hours of tape available on LeBron James' chase-down blocks and him preventing teams from scoring on seemingly easy fast break opportunities.

Moreover, LeBron is still a player who tries to take the challenge of guarding the opposing team's best scorer in big moments, and that is an attitude of an NBA DPOY award winner.

LeBron James came closest to winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in the 2012-13 season, when he finished second behind Marc Gasol. The 36-year-old has six selections to the All-Defensive teams throughout his career.

#4 Bruce Bowen

Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers moves the ball against Bruce Bowen #12 of the San Antonio Spurs.

For an undrafted player who averaged just 6.1 points in his NBA career, there must be a big reason why he was able to play 873 games and start 644 times.

For Bruce Bowen, defense was the main tool that helped him become a three-time NBA champion.

Bruce Bowen was a tremendous 3-and-D player in three NBA championship-winning seasons for the San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, and 2007).

Not only did he earn eight consecutive All-Defensive selections from 2001 until 2008, but Bowen also made 39% of his three-pointers in that span (2.9 attempts per game).

Bowen earned five All-Defensive First Team selections. However, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award evaded him for his entire career.

He finished second in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting three consecutive times from 2005 to 2007, behind Ben Wallace twice and Marcus Camby once.

#3 Tony Allen

Tony Allen was one of the greatest perimeter defenders the NBA saw in the 2000s and 2010s. Six All-Defensive selections are fantastic for a player who started a little over half of his NBA games (441 starts in 820 regular-season games).

Allen was regarded as one of the hardest defenders by some of the NBA's best scorers (Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant).

Allen earned three first-team selections and three second-team choices during his career. He also won one NBA championship with the Boston Celtics and played in two NBA Finals against the LA Lakers and Bryant.

Naturally, Allen guarded Kobe a lot of times during those series (especially in 2010).

In the 2012-13 NBA season when his Memphis Grizzlies teammate Marc Gasol won the award, Allen had finished ahead of the Spaniard in Defensive Rating.

Allen was also one of the main reasons why the Grizzlies had a solid defense (second among teams in Defensive Rating).

Despite all his exploits on the defensive end, Allen was never able to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in his career, as he never really got any attention from voters.

#2 Kobe Bryant

While Tony Allen's case to appear in this list might need some extended explanation, Kobe Bryant's defensive abilities should not raise any doubts.

The late, great Kobe Bryant should have won at least one NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in his illustrious career. However, he retired without getting his defense recognized with the coveted trophy.

Bryant's defense got rewarded in other forms though, as he received 12 All-Defensive selections throughout his career, which ranks second in NBA history together with Kevin Garnett.

Moreover, Kobe earned nine All-Defensive First Team choices, tied for the most in NBA history with Michael Jordan, Gary Payton and Kevin Garnett.

However, Bryant is the only one on that list who did not win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

#1 Tim Duncan

Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder has his shot blocked by Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs.

Tim Duncan is the greatest defender in NBA history to never win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

We are obviously considering players who were in the league during the existence of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, which means players who were there prior to the 1982-83 season are not part of this debate (Bill Russell would have had a great case).

Duncan is the all-time leader in All-Defensive selections with 15 (eight first-team appearances) and ranks second in Defensive Win Shares (106.3) behind Bill Russell.

Duncan's defense helped the San Antonio Spurs win five NBA championships between 1999 and 2014. Talking about the 2012-13 season, Duncan had a great case to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award over winner Marc Gasol.

He led the league in Defensive Rating and was highly-ranked in most defensive stats (third in blocks per game, fourth in Defensive Win Shares, and second in Defensive Box Plus/Minus).

However, Duncan didn't manage to win the award, which remains a massive oversight on the NBA's part.