Howard gets NBA Difensive Player of the Year award

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2009-10 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today, marking the second straight season the All-Star has earned the honor.

The 6-11 center became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic) in consecutive seasons, averaging 13.2 rebounds and 2.78 blocks. Howard also paced the league in field goal percentage (.612), becoming the first player to lead the NBA in all three of those categories since the NBA started keeping blocked shots. He also became only the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding for at least three consecutive seasons. Howard recorded an NBA-high 64 double-doubles, including three 20-point/20-rebound efforts.

Howard, a four-time NBA All-Star, helped the Magic to its third consecutive Southeast Division title (59-23) and the league’s second best record behind Cleveland (61-21). With Howard anchoring the defense, the Magic allowed 95.3 ppg, which ranked fourth in the NBA, and held the opposition to a league-low .438 shooting from the field, including 24 games where opponents shot under .400. Orlando held the opposition to less than 100 points 57 times and to less than 90 points 24 times.

Howard received 576 points, including 110 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Atlanta’s Josh Smith finished second with 136 points and Charlotte’s Gerald wallace finished third with 113 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

PLAYER (TEAM)
1st Place (5 Pts) 2nd Place (3 Pts) 3rd Place (1 pt)
Total Points

Dwight Howard (Orlando) 110 8 2, total 576
Josh Smith (Atlanta) 3 34 19, total 136
Gerald Wallace (Charlotte) 1 29 21, total 113
LeBron James (Cleveland) 4 11 8, total 61
Rajon Rondo (Boston) 1 13 11, total 55
Ron Artest (Los Angeles Lakers) - 7 8, total 29
Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee) 1 2 12, total 23
Thabo Sefolosha (Oklahoma City) 2 1 7, total 20
Anderson Varejao (Cleveland) - 5 3, total 18
Dwyane Wade (Miami) - 2 7, total 13
Marcus Camby (Portland) - 3 4, total 13
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) - 1 6, total 9
Shawn Marion (Dallas) - 2 2, total 8
Tim Duncan (San Antonio) - 2 1, total 7
Shane Battier (Houston) - 1 2, total 5
Andrei Kirilenko (Utah) - 1 1, total 4
Aaron Afflalo (Denver) - - 1, total 1
David Lee (New York) - - 1, total 1
Ben Wallace (Detroit) - - 1, total 1
Brendan Haywood (Washington) - - 1, total 1
Matt Barnes (Orlando) - - 1, total 1
Kendrick Perkins (Boston) - - 1, total 1
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Milwaukee) - - 1, total 1
Kenyon Martin (Denver) - - 1, total 1

ALL-TIME NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Season Winner, Team
1982-83 Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee
1983-84 Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee
1984-85 Mark Eaton, Utah
1985-86 Alvin Robertson, San Antonio
1986-87 Michael Cooper, L.A. Lakers
1987-88 Michael Jordan, Chicago
1988-89 Mark Eaton, Utah
1989-90 Dennis Rodman, Detroit
1990-91 Dennis Rodman, Detroit
1991-92 David Robinson, San Antonio
1992-93 Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1993-94 Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1994-95 Dikembe Mutombo, Denver
1995-96 Gary Payton, Seattle
1996-97 Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta
1997-98 Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta
1998-99 Alonzo Mourning, Miami
1999-00 Alonzo Mourning, Miami
2000-01 Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia
2001-02 Ben Wallace, Detroit
2002-03 Ben Wallace, Detroit
2003-04 Ron Artest, Indiana
2004-05 Ben Wallace, Detroit
2005-06 Ben Wallace, Detroit
2006-07 Marcus Camby, Denver
2007-08 Kevin Garnett, Boston
2008-09 Dwight Howard, Orlando
2009-10 Dwight Howard, Orlando