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The Defensive Player of the Year award has been dominated mostly by interior defenders. While during the first decade of its inception from the 1982-83 regular season, it was mostly won by excellent perimeter defenders (about whom we will be discussing later on in this article), since then predominantly centers and forwards have won this award.
Defense is the less glamorous aspect of basketball that never gets as much attention as the offense, which is why our list comprises of some basketball greats whose names are alien to the youngsters in today's generation.
In ranking these 7 players, we have judged the entire careers of the players in question. In one particular case, we have made an exception for the fact that the player is still active and has flashed the potential to justify his positioning in this list. Here goes our ordering:
#7 Ron Artest/Metta World Peace
Career stat line: 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.5 blocks per game
Career Honors: NBA Champion (2010), Defensive Player of the Year (2004), All-NBA Third Team (2004), All Star (2004), 2xAll-Defensive First Team (2004, 2006), 2xAll-Defensive Second Team (2003, 2009)
Ron Artest was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft. After playing 2 and a half seasons with the Bulls, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, for whom he played the best basketball of his career. Artest played for the Pacers for 4 years, during which he made 2 All-Defensive teams and won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Artest won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010, knocking down an important 3-pointer in game 7 of the Finals series late in the 4th quarter to give the Lakers a sizeable lead to defend in the last few minutes against the franchise's arch rivals - the Boston Celtics.
Artest's primary defensive strength were his quick hands, which he used to great effect while making steals - during his 3rd season in the league, he was averaging 2.8 steals with the Bulls before being traded. Artest had a high basketball IQ, good bulk and was a versatile defender who could guard positions 1-4.
The season that Artest won the DPOY award, the Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to eventual NBA champions - the Detroit Pistons. Artest remained a great defender through the course of his career - even in his final seasons with the Lakers.
#6 Michael Cooper
Career Stat line: 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
Career Honors: 5xNBA champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988), Defensive Player of the Year (1987), 5xFirst Team All-Defense (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988), 3xSecond Team All-Defense (1981, 1983, 1986)
Michael Cooper was selected with the 60th overall pick by the Lakers in the 1978 NBA draft. He turned out to be one of the biggest steals in NBA history by developing into a defensive ace for the Showtime Lakers.
While Cooper could play at the point guard position, he generally guarded the best perimeter player on his opponents' teams. Cooper generally came off the bench during the Showtime years, but played as part of the Lakers' clutch time lineups.
Cooper became the prototype for the modern 3-and-D player in the middle of a glittering career littered with 5 NBA championships through the '80s. In his best season, Cooper won the Defensive Player of the Year award while averaging 10.5 points on 38.5% shooting from 3-point territory, in addition to 4.5 assists and 1 steal per game.
Cooper has, since retirement, become the only player to win titles in the NBA, WNBA and the D-League as a coach or player.
#5 Alvin Robertson
Career Statline: 14.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.71 steals, 0.4 blocks per game
Career Honors: All-NBA Second Team (1986), Defensive Player of the Year (1986), 2xFirst Team All-Defense (1987, 1991), 4xSecond Team All-Defense (1986, 1988-1990), Most Improved Player (1986), 4 x All Star (1986-1988, 1991), 3x Steals Leader (1986, 1987, 1991)
Alvin Robertson was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 7th pick in the all-time great 1984 NBA draft (he would be off the draft board by the 4th pick on almost any other draft). After starting from the bench in his first season, Robertson was moved to the starting lineup in the 1985-86.
He had a breakout season that year, averaging 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.7 steals per game and making his first All-Star team. He was the steals leader in the league that year and was selected to the All-NBA Second Team, in addition to winning both the Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. He also became the first and only player to record a quadruple-double with steals in a game against the Phoenix Suns, with totals of 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
Robertson was traded to the Bucks in 1989, where he continued his excellent play for more than 3 seasons before being traded to the Detroit Pistons. Going down with back injuries in the summer of 1993, Robertson's career was tragically cut short as he only played 1 more season of NBA basketball with the Toronto Raptors in 1995-96.
Robertson is the all-time leader in per-game steals at an average of 2.71 steals per game, and is recognized as one of the best defenders ever to play at the guard position.
#4 Sidney Moncrief
Career Stat line: 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks per game
Career Honors: 2xDefensive Player of the Year (1983, 1984), All-NBA First Team (1983), 4xAll-NBA Second Team (1982, 1984-1986), 4xAll-Defensive First Team (1983-1986), All-Defensive Second Team (1982), 5xAll Star (1982-1986)
Sidney Moncrief was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 5th overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft. His two-way prowess increased with every game, and Moncrief made the All-Star team by his 3rd season in the league, on the way to one of the most impressive seasons by any player in the league: Moncrief averaged 19.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals while playing lockdown defense on the best perimeter player on the opposition team.
Moncrief's prowess on the defensive end was recognized with an All-NBA Second Team selection that season. Other than the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks were the best team in the Eastern Conference but were unable to make the NBA Finals during Moncrief's time in Milwaukee.
Michael Jordan once said the following to a reporter:
When you play against Moncrief, you're in for a night of all-around basketball. He'll hound you everywhere you go, both ends of the court. You just expect it.
If not for a regenerative knee condition that troubled him for the second leg of his career, Moncrief would surely be a Hall of Famer.
#3 Gary Payton
Career Stat line: 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.2 blocks per game
Career Honors: NBA Champion (2006), Defensive Player of the Year (1996), 2xAll-NBA First Team (1998, 2000), 5xAll-NBA Second Team (1995-97, 1999, 2002), 2xAll-NBA Third Team (1994, 2001), 9xAll-Defensive First Team (1994-2002), 9x All Star(1994-1998, 2000-2003)
Arguably the greatest defender to ever play at the point guard position, The Glove was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 2nd overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft. While he wasn't a great scorer at the offensive end, Payton's defensive play and playmaking was transcendent even in his first 3 seasons.
He raised his scoring average to 16.5 points per game in the 1993-94 NBA season and received a number of All-NBA honors, including his first selection to the All-Star game. Together with Shawn Kemp, they formed the Sonic Boom combo and made his first Finals series in 1996 against the Bulls led by Michael Jordan.
The Sonics were the only team to beat the Bulls thrice that season, and Gary Payton's defense on Michael Jordan in games 3-5 in the Finals series reduced his Airness' impact enough for the Sonics to win 2 games.
Payton received Defensive Player of the Year honors that year and remains the only point guard ever to win the award. He is tied with Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant for the most selections to the All-Defensive First Team at 9.
Later in his career, Payton went ring-chasing, finally winning it with the Miami Heat in the 2005-06 season after disappointment in the Finals with the Lakers in 2003-04. Payton is one of the most complete players ever to play the guard position, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2013.
#2 Kawhi Leonard
Career Stat line: 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.7 blocks per game
Career Honors: NBA Champion as Finals MVP (2014), 2xDefensive Player of the Year (2015, 2016), 2xAll-NBA First Team (2016, 2017), 3xAll-Defensive First Team (2015-2017), All-Defensive Second Team (2014), 2xAll Star (2016, 2017)
The only active perimeter defender to have won this award, Kawhi Leonard was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, before the San Antonio Spurs, enacted a draft-night trade to acquire him and 2 other rookies. Over the first 3 years of his career, Leonard emerged as a star defender capable of taking multiple defensive assignments with his agility, basketball IQ and a wingspan of 7'3".
Leonard truly matured into a great two-way player in the 2014 NBA playoffs, when he averaged 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals while regularly guarding the best player on the opposition team. He averaged 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks in the Finals series against Miami Heat, which the Spurs won in 5 games by the largest per-game victory margin in Finals history - winning the Finals MVP in the process.
The following 3 seasons saw Leonard mature into the best two-way player in the league, and he won the Defensive Player of the Year award in the first 2 seasons while finishing 2nd in the voting in 2017. A quad injury has restricted Leonard to only 9 appearances this season, though it is expected that he will come back in time for the playoffs.
#1 Michael Jordan
Career Stat line: 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, 0.8 blocks per game
Career Honors: 6xNBA Champion and Finals MVP (1991-1993, 1996-1998), 5xMVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998), Defensive Player of the Year (1988), 10xAll-NBA First Team (1987-1993, 1996-1998), All-NBA Second Team (1985), 9xAll-Defensive First Team (1988-1993, 1996-1998), Rookie of the Year (1985), 3xSteals leader (1988, 1990, 1993), 10xScoring champion (1987-1993, 1996-1998)
His Airness is the uncontested Greatest of All Time because of a reason: he was the best offensive player in the league, while also its best defensive player during his prime. In the 1987-88 season, Michael Jordan became the only player to win the regular season MVP, scoring title, Defensive Player of the Year as well as winning the MVP award in the All-Star game.
In the 1987-88 season, Jordan was smarting from his defeat to Michael Cooper in the Defensive Player of the Year sweepstakes (despite becoming the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a single season). He put up a stat line of 35.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks to become the first player to total 250 steals and 125 blocks in a single NBA season.
This 1987-88 season is the most dominant season put up by a single player in the history of the league, as borne out by the awards and statistics for the season. Jordan proved that he belonged in a different conversation to the rest of the league.
