Above the Break Awards: 2025-26 DPOY & All-Defense First Team

Let's get defensive about awards

DPOY & All-Defense First Team

Victor Wembanyama

The NBA record for DPOYs is four, jointly held by Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo, and Rudy Gobert, and it would not surprise me one bit if by 2030 they found themselves in a three-way tie for second. Victor Wembanyama is the greatest defensive player ever. Throw any other name up there, I dare you, and he’ll swat it away like you’re some 6’1 guard with a deathwish. No player has ever had the alignment of statistics and eye-test quite like Wembanyama. All the numbers say he’s the best, but if you couldn’t even count to ten, just watching him would lead you to the same conclusion.

The best illustration of his talents might be his on/off splits. With Wembanyama on the court, the Spurs posted a defensive rating of 106.48 and held opponents to 47.53% shooting on twos. The worst offense in the league was the Brooklyn Nets, who had an offensive rating of 108.7 and shot 52.8% within the arc. Without him, the Spurs had a defensive rating of 116.18 and allowed opponents to convert 55.15% of their 2-pointers. The Atlanta Hawks finished 14th in offensive rating at 116.1 and 15th in 2P% at 55.2%.

There’s no shortage of statistics, anecdotes, and videos that paint the same picture. We are witnessing the greatest to ever do it, and chances are, he isn’t done growing. At some point, I suspect voters will get bored voting for Wembanyama, but it won’t be this year. If he isn’t the unanimous DPOY, someone needs to have their brain examined and then discarded.

Chet Holmgren

In just about any other year, Chet Holmgren would be the runaway DPOY favorite. He’s an incredible defender and just anchored one of the best defenses in history. Don’t believe me? According to PBPStats’ relative defensive rating, the 2025-26 Thunder were the best defense in the tracking era (1996-97) relative to league average, and with Holmgren on the court, they produced a defensive rating of 104.52. That’s just silly. Now, Chet had more help than most, as the Thunder posted a defensive rating of 110.91 without him on the court, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is the linchpin of the best defense many people have ever seen.

Chet isn’t just an on/off darling; the metrics and statistics love him as well. He’s near the top in most, if not all, metrics, and he doesn’t really have any weaknesses. While his rebounding is often cited as a problem, his 25.3% defensive rebound rate was 10th in the league, and the Thunder were a far better rebounding team with him on the court. At the end of the day, Holmgren is a near-perfect modern front court defender. He can play as a lone center or next to another behemoth, and he’ll be elite in both roles. If it wasn’t for Victor Wembanyama, he’d be a shoo-in for a near-unanimous DPOY.

Ausar Thompson

Ausar Thompson’s case for an All-Defense team reminds me a lot of Dyson Daniels from last season. Statistically, all of the advanced metrics think he might have been the best non-Wembanyama defender this season. He was the only qualified player with both a steal and block rate above 3%. He ranks third in defensive BPM (3.6), second in Dunks and Threes defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (+4.2), and second in Laker’s Defensive component (+4.5). I’m not here to argue that Thompson isn’t an amazing defender; I have him third after all, but I am a little perplexed by his defensive on/off splits. With Thompson on the court, the Pistons produced a defensive rating of 110.14, and without him, it was 110.31, and there wasn’t even some insane 3-point variation swing. In fact, the Pistons’ defense looked very similar regardless of Thompson’s presence, which was exactly like Daniels last season.

At the end of the day, I trust that Thompson is a great defender. Single-season on/off splits aren’t gospel, but one more season of meek defensive impact will have me investigating. It could simply be down to rotations, where Thompson plays next to worse defenders, and when he’s off the court, the Pistons load up. At the end of the day, when the stats and eyes tell you the same thing, you should listen.

Rudy Gobert

The Minnesota Timberwolves finished with the eighth-ranked defense this season, but that’s kind of a misnomer. The Wolves were two defenses—an excellent one with Rudy Gobert, and a pitiful excuse of a rebellion without him. With Gobert on the court, the Wolves had a defensive rating of 109.85, which would have been the third-best team defense on the season, and without him, it plummeted to 119.04, which would have ranked 26th. Functionally, Gobert turned the Wolves into the Pistons, and without him, they were the Nets.

For whatever reason, Gobert draws the ire of current and former players like no other, but the facts are the facts. Even at 33, he’s still one of the best defenders in the league, and the Timberwolves would be hopeless without him. Would it be great if he could post up and dominate? Yes, but if he could, then he might literally be one of the ten greatest players ever.

Scottie Barnes

As far as defensive versatility goes, Scottie Barnes might be your number one pick. He can guard at all three levels, and most crucially, make plays, as his 4.2% block rate and 2.1% steal rate attest to. Pretty much all the metrics suggest that Barnes had an elite defensive season, and when you throw in his 2,681 minutes played, he gets my final first-team spot. Personally, I value minutes played quite highly for Defensive Player of the Year and the All-Defense teams. If you’ve ever played basketball, defense is 90% about effort, and it’s a lot easier to look amazing when you’re playing 20 minutes a night than it is when you’re expected to play 35.

The one slight nit to pick with Barnes’ season is his on/off splits. The Raptors had a 113.03 defensive rating with Barnes, and a 114.03 without him. Similar to Ausar’s situation, I doubt this is actually a Barnes-related phenomenon and is more a product of rotation choices made easier by Barnes’ defensive excellence.

All-Defense Second Team

Dyson Daniels

Last season, Daniels rode the first 3.0 steals per game season since 1993-94 to a second-place defensive player of the year finish. It was no doubt an impressive season, but oddly, the Hawks’ defense was worse with him on the court. For an encore, his steals per game fell to 1.96, but the Hawks’ defense was actually significantly better with him on the court (112.85 to 116.03). Guess which season has garnered more praise? For my money, Daniels has probably been just as good defensively as he was last season, and that’s why he’ll land on my second team in consecutive seasons.

As far as guard defense goes, Daniels is the total package. He can pressure the ball, wreak havoc in passing lanes, and has the size, length, and strength to guard up and down a lineup. I do think his on-ball defense isn’t quite at the level of some of his peers, but he more than makes up for that with versatility and his defensive playmaking.

Cason Wallace

The advanced metrics absolutely love Cason Wallace. He led the league in steals (150), finished fourth in defensive BPM (+3.3), fourth in defensive EPM among eligible players (+3.1), and third in Laker’s defensive component (+3.8). If you want to make the case that he should be on the first team, there’s plenty of evidence to support it. The reason why I don’t is very simple. He had an insane amount of help, might not even be the second-best defender on his own team, and is a guard. Seriously, if you could only pick two of Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, and Wallace for one defensive possession, would you take Wallace? Because I don’t think I would. That’s not even a slight. The Thunder are the best defense we’ve seen in HD.

Neemias Queta

There’s a strong case that Neemias Queta was the most impactful role player in the NBA this season. With Queta on the court, the Celtics had a defensive rating of 109.04, and without him, it ballooned to 117.04. That’s not quite a Rudy Gobert-level impact, but it paints a pretty compelling picture. On top of his on/off excellence, the all-in-one metrics adored his defense, and his 5.4% block rate was the sixth-best figure in the league. There’s not that much more to say. Queta anchored the league’s fourth-best defense.

Derrick White

Derrick White might be the most underrated player in the NBA, and it starts with his defense. Defensive metrics routinely paint him as at least a top-15 defender, and he might be the greatest shot-blocking guard in NBA history. His 3.8% block rate this season is the fourth-highest single-season mark by a guard, and he has four other seasons in the top-25. However, his on-court impact goes far beyond his shot blocking. With White on the court, the Celtics had a defensive rating of 110.31, and without him, it exploded to 118.85. If it wasn’t for him and Neemias Queta, the Celtics’ defense might have finished in the bottom half, but instead, it was top-five.

The Final Spot

Parsing out defensive credit is incredibly difficult. Defense is a weak link endeavor, and the more minutes you play, the more difficult it is to pop on a per-minute basis. For the tenth and final spot, I have three candidates who I think are deserving of recognition, but I have a hard time justifying one over the other. Call it the coward’s way out.

Amen Thompson led the league in minutes played and was able to be one of the best on-ball defenders in the league. With the loss of Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet, the Rockets needed Thompson to be their full-time on-ball ace, and he more than delivered. While he’s elite in this role, I think he would have had a monster analytic season if allowed to roam in passing lanes and as a weakside rim protector, where he also excels.

OG Anunoby is the primary reason the Knicks, despite employing Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, finished with a top-ten defense. Mikal Bridges also had a resurgent season, and I wouldn’t fault anyone for flipping these two, but I think Anunoby’s size and versatility are more impactful.

Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game is what his season will be remembered for, but he remains one of the best defensive players in the league. Honestly, if it weren’t for the Heat’s complete and utter defensive collapse over the final month of the season, Adebayo would have been a pretty easy choice. The Heat posted a defensive rating of 111.3 over their first 67 games, the fourth-best figure in the league, before capitulating for a 124.6 defensive rating over the season’s final 15 games. Adebayo isn’t the primary reason for the defensive collapse that sank their season, but it’s kind of hard to overlook.

For any inquiries about work, discussion, and the like, you can email me at nevin.l.brown@gmail.com.