Voters finally reward Evan Mobley's defensive brilliance with Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have enjoyed an all-time season, filled with many firsts for the franchise and players alike.

After historic win streaks, three All-Stars and the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers have even more to celebrate. In only his fourth NBA season, budding Cavs superstar Evan Mobley was crowned the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The 23-year-old big man has shown versatility in his defensive game all season, locking down the perimeter and paint like few talents have ever done.

Cleveland's All-Star big averaged 1.6 blocks in 30.5 minutes through 71 games this season. With Mobley on the court, rival offenses shot 2.5 percent worse at the rim and 4.4 percent worse on corner threes, while also averaging fewer inside attempts by 3.3 percent when he roamed the paint per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required).

What made Mobley's defensive impact so deadly was how he did it. Not only did he deter opponents from shooting, but he also blocked shots seemingly at will. He only averaged two fouls per game, ranking in the top 88th percentile in foul percentage (Cleaning the Glass).

Mobley's DPOY was a long time coming

A pillar of Cleveland's success has been their defensive presence, ranking among the league's best defenses every season for four years. The Cavs stifle offensive rivals, forcing shooters off the arc and into a towering defensive duo in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. That instant and constant defensive impact has been present since Mobley first joined the league. In his second season, he was a finalist for DPOY and became one of the few players who earned a post on the All-Defensive teams as an NBA sophomore.

With such historic accolades in his first two seasons, it seemed to be Thanos-level inevitable that Cleveland's big man would eventually hoist the Defensive Player of the Year trophy. While most of the early season Mobley was a distant second-place favorite to San Antonio Spurs young star Victor Wembanyama, an unfortunate blood clot diagnosis sidelined Wemby for the remainder of the year and took him out of contention.

Near instantly, the race became a head-to-head between Mobley and former DPOY Jaren Jackson, Jr. After a few weeks, Mobley distanced himself from Jackson, becoming the leading candidate for the award before a late-season campaign by NBA Champion Draymond Green and breakout defender Dyson Daniels threatened Mobley's crown. Green became the favorite for some time before Mobley eventually took his rightful spot at the top of the NBA's defensive ladder.

Mobley continues to make Cavaliers history as the first member of the organization to win the award, beating out even LeBron James for the honor. In the 2012-13 season, James almost won both MVP and DPOY, but a glitch in voting rules crowned Marc Gasol victorious despite not being named to All-Defensive First Team. Nonetheless, Mobley is the first in Cleveland's history to accomplish the monumental feat.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Evan Mobley continued their success in the playoffs, taking a 2-0 series lead against the Miami Heat just one night before Mobley was named the winner. As the Cavs star develops more, he is certainly bound to be in the contention for the award time and time again.