Evan Mobley expressed that his target for the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers was to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He achieved it!

The Cavaliers boast Mobley as their prime defensive asset, and the league recognized his efforts. Mobley outperformed fellow contenders Dyson Daniels from Atlanta and Draymond Green from Golden State in securing the prestigious accolade, announced during a broadcast on TNT.

“It just feels great to finally get this award,” Mobley remarked.

Stating “finally” may not fully capture it. At just 23 years old, he is among the youngest to win the award, joining others like Dwight Howard, Jaren Jackson Jr., Alvin Robertson, and Kawhi Leonard as recipients of the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy.

Mobley clinched the award in a season where he made his All-Star debut and set a personal high for scoring. Kenny Atkinson made a solid case for Mobley based on how drastically different the Cavaliers’ defensive statistics were when Mobley was active on the court.

“It’s a huge dip, like 12 places or something, that really screams out, to me. Probably the No. 1 stat that I look at,” Atkinson explained.

Green, a winner in 2017, was aiming to become the 11th player in NBA history to win the award twice, having finished top three for the fifth time. Mobley’s victory is his first, having been third in voting in 2023. Daniels, a finalist for the first time this year, secured second place in the voting, followed by Green in third.

Daniels had 229 steals this season, the highest since Gary Payton’s 231 with the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1995-96 season. Furthermore, he became the first to average over 3.00 steals per game since Robertson in 1990-91.

The results of the voting by a global panel of 100 journalists and broadcasters will potentially reflect in the upcoming All-Defensive team announcements. Mobley can expect his second selection, while it will be the first for Daniels.

Rudy Gobert, who won last season, captured a tied fourth DPOY trophy.

Earlier this week, Payton Pritchard from Boston was honored as sixth man of the year, and Jalen Brunson from New York was named the clutch player of the year.