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

#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.