Inside the Minds of NBA’s Defensive Titans: What Truly Sets the Best Apart?
So here we are again—the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award is wide open, with a bunch of contenders each flexing a different kind of defensive muscle. But here’s the kicker: ever since Victor Wembanyama’s sudden blood clot diagnosis threw the clear frontrunner out of the race, the defensive landscape has morphed into a messy, exhilarating tug-of-war. What’s fascinating (and kinda ironic) is this— in a league often criticized for players “phoning it in” on defense, how on earth do we have this many defenders actually worth shouting about? Well, it turns out the league is packed with defensive talent like never before, and it’s high time we celebrate these varied defensive maestros—beyond Wembanyama’s obvious dominance. Instead of getting stuck in the endless “who’s the best defender” loop, I dove into the top five players in D-DRIP—a stat that peels back the curtain on defensive impact—to spotlight the unique ways these guys are changing the defensive game. Curious? You should be. LEARN MORE.
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year award is up for grabs this year. Each top contender has a different way of impacting the game.
It feels like this year the discussion around the NBA Defensive Player of the Year is more wide-open than ever before. The event that triggered this vortex of conversation was, of course, Victor Wembanyamaâs blood clot diagnosis in February.
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