The NBA's Most Valuable Players, defensively

Despite the fact that 50 percent of the game in basketball is defensive aspect, good defensive players often get overlooked when we make a judgement about outstanding talents.

In the NBA, the ultimate validating judgement comes with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, the annual recognition of the league’s finest (or most valuable) player. These players are mostly high scorers, and in many cases, rarely dominant on the defensive end as they are mostly on offensive.

That is where the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) trophy comes in. An award first awarded in the 1982-83 season (MVP awards have existed since 1955-56), it celebrates the finest player in the league, doing sometimes the most thankless job. Defense is what turns a basketball team from good to great, and the DPOYs deserve to stand in closer strata to the MVPs.

There are also the rare ones, individuals who have earned recognition for being the league’s most valuable and the league’s best defensive players in their careers. It’s surprisingly rare in the NBA when the best overall player also puts in more effort than any other on the defensive end. Since 1982-83, when the DPOY award was first given, only four players have won both the DPOY and the MVP trophies.

Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kevin Garnett.

And only two of these individuals won both the awards in the same year: Jordan in 1988 and Olajuwon in 1994.

A lot of fantastic players have indeed come close to possession both trophies. Bill Russell, the holder of five MVP trophies, could’ve easily amassed half a dozen DPOY awards too, if those were given in the 50s or 60s. Dave Cowens is another player who could’ve won both (at different times of his career). In the modern age, Gary Payton was one of the best two-way guards of all time who won the DPOY award in 1996 but was never MVP.

Amongst active players, the former MVPs are Tim Duncan, Garnett, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Derrick Rose, while the former DPOYs are Metta World Peace (although he was called Ron Artest when he won the award), Marcus Camby, Garnett, Dwight Howard and Tyson Chandler.

With the exception of Garnett, who has already won both, the most likely players to get their names in both lists are three-time DPOY Dwight Howard and three-time MVP LeBron James. Although he’s going through a tough season, Howard may yet have an MVP-caliber season left in him. LeBron has added his name amongst the league’s best defenders, and could very likely win the DPOY award at some point in his career. Duncan, who has surprisingly never been DPOY, may be too old now to get the accolade, despite a stellar career as a top class defensive player. And it’s never too late to count out Garnett from contending for the DPOY again!

Let’s get back to the four who have succeeded in both ends. The DPOY award has become a staple for big men, who block shots and control the paint. Since Gary Payton in 1996, no guard has been named DPOY. Only five guards in history – Sidney Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Jordan and Payton – have ever been given the individual defensive accolade. That is why it is no surprise that three of the four names on our list – Olajuwon, Robinson, and Garnett – are big men.

Michael Jordan became the first player in 1988 to bag both the MVP and the DPOY trophy. It is a rarity for someone to have that kind of a stellar ‘double’ as a guard, but what’s more amazing is that Jordan did it in just his third season in the league! Jordan was also the scoring champion that season, led the league in steals, won the Slam Dunk competition and was the MVP of the All Star Game. In related news, he went on to win four more MVP awards, led the league in scoring nine more times, and in steals, two more times. Not to mention, the greatest of all-time went on to win six championships in all.

And then there’s Hakeem Olajuwon, the man picked two spots ahead of Jordan in the 1984 draft but left absolutely no one regretting that decision. Olajuwon came as close to becoming the ‘Jordan of Big Men’ as possible. His marquee year was 1994, when (while Jordan enjoyed retirement playing baseball), he was MVP, DPOY, NBA Champion and the Finals MVP. In total, Hakeem amassed one MVP trophy, two DPOY trophies and two championships.

David Robinson (1X MVP, 2X DPOY) and Kevin Garnett (1X MVP, 1X DPOY) will also both go down in NBA history as great players, great defenders and great champions.

Who do you think has the ability and the right circumstance to do the MVP/DPOY double? Can LeBron and Dwight have the influence that Jordan and Olajuwon once had? Or will a new force emerge to be both defensive and valuable?