Who Has the Most DPOY Awards in NBA History?

We take a look at which NBA player has the most Defensive Player of the Year awards in history.

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Bill Russell- Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Hall of Fame center Bill Russell won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award a record five times in his career. He is the only player in NBA history to win the award five times.

Russell is also tied with Dikembe Mutombo for the most All-Defensive first Team selections in NBA history with eight. He was named to the All-Defensive first team eight times in his career, tied with Dikembe Mutombo for the most selections in league history.

Michael Jordan- Second Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. He was a 10-time NBA All-Star and six-Ime Nba champion with the Chicago Bulls In addition to his scoring and clutch shooting, Jordan was also an excellent Defensive Player He was named to the All-Defensive First Team nine times and won the defensive player of the Year Award twice.

Only one player has won more Defensive Player of the Year Awards than Jordan. That player is Ben Wallace who won the award four times in his career.

Hakeem Olajuwon- Third Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Hakeem Olajuwon also known as “The Dream”, is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In 1996, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history Olajuwon is the only player in NBA history to win the NBA MVP Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP Awards in the same season. He is also one of only three players to average a double-double for an entire career.

Olajuwon played college basketball for the University of Houston from 1981 to 1984. He led the Cougars to the Finals of the NCAA championship in 1983 and 1984, and was named National Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984. He was drafted first overall by the Houston Rockets in the 1984 NBA draft and went on to lead them to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, winning MVP honors in both years.

In his 18 seasons with the Rockets and Toronto Raptors Olajuwon became a 12-time All-Star and was named All-NBA First Team six times. He led his teams to seven Conference Finals appearances and four NBA Finals appearances, winning two championships. He is one of only four players ever to average at least 20 points per game 10 rebounds per game and 3 blocks per game for their career; joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain ,and Bill Russell . For his accomplishments, Olajuwon was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame  and FIBA Hall of Fame .

Ben Wallace- Fourth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Ben Wallace is a former Professional Basketball player who played 16 seasons in the NBA. He is currently the fourth most decorated player in NBA history having been named to the All-Defensive team eight times and winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award four times.

Dwight Howard- Fifth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Dwight David Howard Jr. (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howard, who plays center, spent his first eight seasons in the NBA with the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. An eight-time All-Star and eight-time All-NBA team honoree, he is a five-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time NBA rebounding champion. In 2014–15, Howard led the league in blocks per game for a record eighth consecutive season.

During his time with the Magic, Howard was one of the best Defensive Players in the league. He helped Orlando make back to back playoff appearances in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, he led them to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1996. He also led Orlando to a franchise best 59–23 record during the 2011–12 season. Dwight won his first DPOY Award that season as well. After eight seasons with Orlando, Dwight joined James Harden and Kobe Bryant on the Lakers in 2012. The following year, he won his second DPOY Award and was selected to play in his seventh straight All-Star game In 2014, he was traded to Houston where he played for two seasons before signing with his hometown Atlanta Hawks in 2016. After one season with Atlanta, Dwight was traded to Charlotte where he played for one more season before being bought out by the Hornets. He then signed with Washington but was traded midseason to Memphis.

Dwight has been selected to play in nine NBA All-Star games. He has also been named an All-Star Game starter seven times (2010–2016). In 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month four times each year .In 2009 and 2010 he was named 1st team All-Defense .In 2009 he was also named Defensive Player of the Year .In 2010 Orlando Magic won 52 games which is 3rd most wins in franchise history .In 2011 they again won 52 games which is again 3rd most wins in franchise history .In 2012 they set a franchise record by winning 59 games .Other accomplishments include:
3× NBA rebounding champion (2009–2011)
2× First Team All-NBA (2009 & 2010)
7× Second Team All-NBA (2008, 2012–2017)
8× NBA All Defensive First Team (2008–2011 & 2013–2016)
3× Second Team All Defense (2012 & 2017)
2× block champion (2009 &2010)

Dikembe Mutombo- Sixth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo is a retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was an eight-time All-Star and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. He is currently the only player in NBA history to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. In addition, he is one of only two players (the other being Ben Wallace) to win the award in three consecutive seasons.

Alonzo Mourning- Seventh Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Alonzo Mourning, also known by his initials, “Zo”, is an American former professional basketball player who played most of his 15-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Though mostly remembered for his years with the Charlotte Hornets he played the majority of his minutes as a member of the Miami Heat Mourning made a comeback after undergoing a lifesaving kidney transplant and later won two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Mourning played college basketball for Georgetown University and was drafted second overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets He was named to the All-Star team eight times and the All-NBA team six times, winning defensive player of the Year awards in 1999 and 2000.

Mourning made 743 starts out of 959 games over 15 NBA seasons averaging 17 points on .497 shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 29.8 minutes per game while shooting .575 from the field and .439 from three-point range

Gary Payton- Eighth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Gary Payton is an American retired professional basketball player He is best known for his time with the Seattle SuperSonics with whom he played for thirteen seasons. Upon his retirement from playing in 2007, Payton became a broadcaster for ESPN. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Payton is one of the most decorated defensive players in NBA history having been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1996, when he was a member of the Seattle SuperSonics.

In total, Gary Payton has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He is one of only four players to achieve this feat; the other three are Michael Jordan Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo. Payton is also one of only two point guards to have been named to either an All-Defensive First or Second Team on eight or more occasions (the other is Jason Kidd).

Ron Artest- Ninth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

Ron Artest has won the defensive player of the year award nine times in his career, the most of any player in NBA history He is a five-time All-Star and has been named to the All-NBA Defensive team nine times. Artest was also a member of the Indiana Pacers team that reached the NBA Finals in 2000.

Kobe Bryant- Tenth Most DPOY Awards in NBA History

As of right now, there have been nine players who have won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) Award more times than Kobe Bryant The DPOY Award is given to the player who is deemed to be the best defender in the NBA as voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Kobe has only won the award once in his career.