There's a basketball saying: "Defense decides the championship." ”
However, sometimes great defensive players can also go unnoticed for awards, so let's take a look at 10 of the most surprising superstars who have never won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
10. Sean Marion
Sean Marion has never been selected for a career defensive lineup, which remains a tragedy, and arguably one of the underrated players of all time. Regardless of position, he defended his best players every night, averaging 20 points and more than 10 rebounds per game on multiple occasions while also playing more than 80 games.
There's no doubt that Sean Marion plays a key role as a small-ball big man on the Phoenix Suns in the "seven seconds or less" style. With his defense, the Suns are legitimate playoff contenders, similar to Draymond Green's positive impact on the Golden State Warriors these days.
But surprisingly, unlike Green, Marion has never won the Defensive Player of the Year award. He had a chance of winning the award in 2006-07, when he averaged 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, but ended up finishing fourth.
Even after hanging up his basketball shoes, "The Matrix" still wondered why he never won the award, or at least wasn't made to some all-defensive lineups.
9. Serge Ibaka
With 8 blocks in a single game, is Serge Ibaka a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year?
Serge Ibaka was the interior protector of the Oklahoma City Thunder that year, and he played a key role in the Thunder's 2012 NBA Finals. But despite leading the NBA in blocks for two years in a row and being named to the All-Defensive Team three times, Ibaka was surprisingly unable to win the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award.
He finished second in 2012, third in 2013 and fourth in 2014. In fact, even three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Dwight Howard had predicted Ibaka to win in 2012 and 2013.
8. Andrei Kirilenko
Andrei Kirilenko had a memorable career with the Utah Jazz, and let's take a look at some of his highlights from the 2000s.
1 All-Star Game
1 brand new show
3rd Overall Defense
1-time NBA block king
4-time Top 15 Defensive Player of the Year
The second-most 5×5 games in NBA history
The AK-47 will always be a legend for the Jazz, but without the DPOY.
A Swiss Army knife-style player, Andrei Kirilenko is a top-tier perimeter defender. Therefore, it is only natural that he is a contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Although he was named to the All-Defensive Team three times, the Defensive Player of the Year award remained a far-fetched honor in his career.
Although he was a contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Kirilenko finished in the top five on only two occasions, fifth in 2004 and third in 2006. Kirilenko even led the NBA block in 2005.
7. Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis responded to the call from the Los Angeles Lakers, who eventually stayed fit enough to perform at an MVP level. Making an impact on both the offensive and defensive ends, Davis is also a reliable defender and protector of the basket. He averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game in 2023-24.
Unfortunately, Davis failed to make it into the top three in the race for Defensive Player of the Year this year. It's worth mentioning that Davis has been a contender for Defensive Player of the Year for five consecutive seasons, including 2020, when he was runner-up. Davis has led the NBA for blocks three times in his career.
6. Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen is an ideal offensive and defensive player to match Michael Jordan, and he is a key player for the Bulls to win two consecutive championships.
However, Pippen's perimeter defense is often overlooked. In fact, he led the NBA steals at one point and was named to the All-Defensive Team ten times in his career. In addition, Pippen was a nine-time top-10 Defensive Player of the Year award, finishing runner-up in 1995 and 1996.
5. Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan should have won the Defensive Player of the Year award at least five times, but not once.
In retrospect, it's incomprehensible that he never won this award, as he has been a top defensive player for almost 20 years.
Tim Duncan has had a significant impact on both the offensive and defensive ends for the San Antonio Spurs dynasty, so it's puzzling for the big man that he hasn't won the Defensive Player of the Year award once in his career.
Duncan has been a nominee for the award for 15 seasons, coming closest to winning the award in 2001 and 2007 after finishing runner-up, with Duncan receiving 15 all-defensive honors in his career.
4. Wilt Chamberlain
Considering that the award was first presented in the 1982-83 season, Wilt Chamberlain never won the Defensive Player of the Year award because he had been retired for many years when the award was created. Unfortunately, the capping data for his career is also not counted.
However, if the award had been handed out earlier, Chamberlain would have won a large number of Defensive Player of the Year awards, having been named to the All-Defensive Team twice.
3. Bill Russell
At the heart of the Celtics dynasty, Russell led Boston to 11 NBA titles. However, due to his part of the early days, Russell not only missed out on the Finals MVP award, but also had no chance of winning the Defensive Player of the Year award.
With Russell's size and talent, the former Celtics big man will dominate and win a string of Defensive Player of the Year awards, having been named to the All-Defensive Team at one time.
2. Karim Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is known for his signature day hook, however, thanks to his massive size and skill, Kareem is also a threat on the defensive end. In fact, the six-time NBA champion even led the NBA three times after the league officially counted blocks.
In addition, Karim has been named to the All-Defensive Team 11 times. Unfortunately, Karim was 35 years old when the Defensive Player of the Year award was presented.
1. LeBron James
LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world and has made a huge impact on both the offensive and defensive ends. In fact, it was his iconic hat-chase block that made the 2016 NBA championship historic one.
But despite his performance on the defensive end, James actually missed out on the Defensive Player of the Year award. In fact, he was runner-up in both 2009 and 2013. In 2009, James lost to Dwight Howard and in 2013 to Marc Gasol.
James wasn't even selected for the all-defensive lineup, which is a real pity.