2013-2014 NBA Regular Season Awards
By Jason Gold
Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Player of the Year – Joakim Noah
Where in the world would the Chicago Bulls be without Joakim Noah this year? The answer is simple: they would be in the lottery with the Lakers.
Though Noah is only averaging 1.5 blocks this season (0.6 less than 2012-13) and 1.2 steals, he has mastered the art of disruption and is the key cog in the Bulls league leading defense year in and year out. Noah’s rebounding, 11.3 per game, has been outstanding once again this year. It’s tough to pick a DPOY this season because Dwight Howard hasn’t been dominant like in recent years, Marc Gasol hasn’t been as great this season, Roy Hibbert fell off the side of a cliff, and other players like LeBron James, DeAndre Jordan, Paul George, and Chris Paul don’t run their teams entire defensive schemes. Joakim Noah is truly the best defender this season because he became the quarterback of the Chicago defense. That alone makes him worthy of this award.
Vote: 1. Noah 2. DeAndre Jordan 3. LeBron James