1 very unexpected NBA player got vote for Defensive Player of the Year
Feb 18, 2023; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; The NBA logo on the court at Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
NBA fans were doing a double-take after seeing one of the names on the Defensive Player of the Year voting results.
The NBA announced Tuesday that Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert had won the 2023-24 Defensive Player of the Year Award. Gobert earned 72 of 99 first-place votes to easily claim the DPOY trophy, the fourth of his NBA career. That now ties Gobert with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most DPOY awards in NBA history.
The 2023-24 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year is… Rudy Gobert!#NBAAwards | #KiaDPOY | @Kia pic.twitter.com/0nlW2ytYYd
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2024
Though Gobert winning the award this year was not a surprise, a big-time surprise was one of the names on the final tally. The voting results revealed that Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis received a third-place vote for DPOY.
The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/SpApbyUUw2
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 7, 2024
Sabonis is known as one of the most dynamic offensive bigs in the game, but he also has a reputation as a shoddy defender. Sabonis did lead the NBA in rebounding for a second straight season with 13.7 boards per game (with rebounding being very crucial on the defensive end as the means of ending the offensive possession). But he managed just 0.6 blocks a game and posted a 63.5 defensive field goal percentage (in the bottom half of big men in the NBA and on par with the likes of Deandre Ayton and John Collins). Sabonis also served as the “anchor” of a Kings defense that was a bottom-ten unit in defensive efficiency on the year overall (per ESPN).
Despite all that however, one voter still thought that Sabonis was worthy of a top-three vote on the Defensive Player of the Year ballot. Perhaps it was a sympathy play since Sabonis did miss out on seven figures by not making an All-Star team this year.
