Memphis Grizzlies power forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. took home Defensive Player of the Year honors on Monday (April 18), becoming the second Grizzly to win the award after Marc Gasol did it a decade ago.
Despite missing the start of the season because of a surgically repaired right foot, Jackson led the entire NBA in blocks per game (3.0) for a second straight year while also swiping 1.0 steals per game. With Jackson on the floor, opponents only made 46.9% of their shots around the rim, which is also the best in the league. The 23-year-old helped anchor a Memphis team that finished with the league’s third-ranked defense (110.7 points per 100 possessions) and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The 2022-23 #KiaDPOY is… Jaren Jackson Jr!#NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/7a2CXbPY6S
— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2023
The second-youngest player to win the award, Jackson beat out Milwaukee‘s Brook Lopez and Cleveland‘s Evan Mobley by garnering 56 first-place votes and 391 total points. Lopez came in second with 31 first-place votes and 309 points, while Mobley came in third with eight first-place votes and 101 points.
Jackson joins an exclusive group of players that has averaged at least three blocks and one steal per game for a top-five defense in the four decades that the Defensive Player of the Year Award has existed. The only other players who have done so are Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon — who the award is now named after thanks to a leaguewide rebrand of the end-of-season honors, David Robinson and Ben Wallace.
The award was the first major individual one the league handed out this season, with Clutch Player, Coach of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year to be revealed throughout this week.
DPOYYYYY @jarenjacksonjr 🏆 pic.twitter.com/SSVBCYmcKJ
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) April 17, 2023
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