CLEVELAND, Ohio — Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, beating out the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green and Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks. To be eligible to win the award, a player must play in at least 65 games. Mobley played in 71.

The NBA announced that Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star big man Evan Mobley won the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award. The voting was decently close, especially for an award that usually isn’t. More often than not,

Cleveland Cavaliers forward-center Evan Mobley, a major part of the team’s eighth-ranked defense, wins Defensive Player of the Year award.