The NBA announced that Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley has won the league’s 2024-25 Kia Defensive Player of the Year award.
Mobley, who is in his fourth season in the pros, is having a career year as the Cavs are currently playing in the postseason as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. The league’s award voters widely agreed that Mobley’s defensive prowess was the best of any player in the NBA, with him garnering 35 of the 100 possible first-place votes, 10 more than runner-up Dyson Daniels. In terms of points, which combines first-, second-, and third-place votes, Mobley had 285, Daniels 197.
There was some smoke about Draymond Green, who won the award in 2017, being a possible candidate for the award, but his campaign started later in the season after opinions had largely been shaped. Green gained 15 first-place votes and 154 overall points in the voting.
Mobley became the first Cleveland Cavaliers player esteemed with the honor.
Here’s how the voting for the top-three shook out:
|
Player |
First-place Votes |
Second-place Votes |
Third-Place Votes |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Evan Mobley |
35 |
30 |
20 |
285 |
|
Dyson Daniels |
25 |
17 |
21 |
197 |
|
Draymond Green |
15 |
20 |
19 |
154 |
