Cleveland Cavaliers forward-center Evan Mobley is the recipient of the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy as the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
A four-year NBA veteran, Mobley has been named the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the first time. The 7-footer is the first player to earn the honor with the Cavaliers.
Mobley is the fifth 23-year-old to be selected as the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, joining Alvin Robertson (1985-86), Dwight Howard (2008-09), Kawhi Leonard (2014-15) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (2022-23). No player younger than 23 has ever won the award, which has been presented annually since the 1982-83 season.
In the 2024-25 regular season, Mobley ranked sixth in the NBA in blocked shots per game (1.59) and 13th in defensive rebounds per game (7.0). He contested 10.4 shots per game, the third most among players who played in at least 70% of their team’s games (58 of 82).
Opponents shot 44.5% from the field when Mobley was the closest defender, 3.2% lower than their expected percentage on those shots (47.7%). That difference was the fourth largest among the 30 players who defended at least 1,000 shots for the season.
Behind Mobley, the Cavaliers ranked eighth in the NBA in defensive rating (111.8) and third in opponents’ field goal percentage (45.4). With him on the court, Cleveland had a defensive rating of 108.6 – which would be No. 2 in the league.
Mobley won the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month Award twice, for December and February. He was also named an NBA All-Star for the first time.
Overall, Mobley averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 30.5 minutes in 71 games. He helped the Cavaliers (64-18) finish with the second-best record in franchise history and earn the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
