The NBA Defensive Player of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points, second-place votes are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, named after the two-time defensive player of the year winner.
Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rudy Gobert have each won the award a record four times. Dwight Howard has won the award three times, and is the only player ever to have won it in three consecutive seasons. Sidney Moncrief, Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning and Kawhi Leonard have each won it twice. The most recent award recipient is Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
Although five of the first six winners were perimeter players, the award has traditionally been given to big men who rebound and block shots. Only eight perimeter players have been honored: Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Ron Artest, Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Smart. Payton and Smart are the only two point guards to have won. Jordan, Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only winners to have also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) during their careers; Jordan, Olajuwon and Antetokounmpo won both awards in the same season. Jordan is the only recipient to have also won the scoring title in the same season, when he also became the only player to win the award while averaging over 30 points per game (35.0). On four occasions, the Defensive Player of the Year recipient was not voted to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in the same year. Robertson in 1986, Mutombo (1995), Tyson Chandler (2012), and Marc Gasol (2013) were instead named to the second team. Whereas the Defensive Player of the Year is voted on by the media, the All-Defensive teams were voted on by NBA coaches prior to 2014.
As part of efforts to reduce load management for star players in the league, effective with the 2023–24 season, when a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players' union took effect, players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for most major regular-season awards, including Defensive Player of the Year. To receive credit for a game for purposes of award eligibility, a player must have been credited with at least 20 minutes played. However, two "near misses", in which the player appeared for 15 to 19 minutes, can be included in the 65-game count. Protections also exist for players who suffer season-ending injuries, who are eligible with 62 credited games, and those affected by what the CBA calls "bad faith circumstances".
Winners
thumb|upright|[[Sidney Moncrief was the inaugural winner in 1983.]]
upright|thumb|[[Hakeem Olajuwon won the award two times. In 2022, the award was named the "Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy".]]
thumb|upright|[[Gary Payton was the first point guard to win the award.]]
thumb|upright|[[Dwight Howard won the award in three consecutive years (2009–2011).|alt=Dwight Howard at a game]]
upright|thumb|[[Marc Gasol was the first European player to win the award (2013).]]
thumb|upright|[[Victor Wembanyama is the youngest and only unanimous winner of the award, and the most recent recipient.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|style="background-color:#CFECEC"; width:6em"|^
|Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
|-
|style="background-color:#FFFF99; width:6em"|*
|Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame<!--
|-
|style="background:#CCFF99; width:1em"|†
|Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration-->
|-
|style="background:#F0E130; width:1em"|§
|1st time eligible for Hall of Fame in 2025
|-
|
|Denotes player was a unanimous winner
|-
|Player (#)
|Denotes the number of times the player has received the award
|-
|Team (#)
|Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" summary="Season (sortable), Player (sortable), Position (sortable), Nationality (sortable) and Team (sortable)"
|-
!scope="col"| Season
!scope="col"| Player
!scope="col"| Position
!scope="col"| Nationality
!scope="col"| Team
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *
| Shooting guard
|
| Milwaukee Bucks
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)
| Shooting guard
|
| Milwaukee Bucks (2)
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"|
| Center
|
| Utah Jazz
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"|
| Shooting guard
|
| San Antonio Spurs
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *
| Shooting guard
|
| Los Angeles Lakers
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *
| Shooting guard
|
| Chicago Bulls
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| (2)
| Center
|
| Utah Jazz (2)
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *|group=lower-alpha|name=note_c
| Houston Rockets
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| * (2)|group=lower-alpha|name=note_d
| Denver Nuggets
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| *
| Point guard
|
| Seattle SuperSonics
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| * (2)
| Center
| |group=lower-alpha
| Chicago Bulls (2)
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^
| Small forward
|
| San Antonio Spurs (3)
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^ (2)
| Small forward
|
| San Antonio Spurs (4)
|-
|
!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| ^