Trivia Question:

Who was the only player to win Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA and NOT be selected to the All NBA Defensive First Team? (yes, it HAS happened).

I'd assume it's more likely to be someone from the center position, since there is probably only 1 on each All NBA Defensive First Team (compared to 2 at the other positions).

Without cheating...I'll guess Alonzo Mourning.

I'd assume it's more likely to be someone from the center position, since there is probably only 1 on each All NBA Defensive First Team (compared to 2 at the other positions).

Without cheating...I'll guess Alonzo Mourning.


That's a good guess, but incorrect. You're on the right track though.

David Robinson?? Total guess.

Btw, you should think about turning this into the sports trivia thread. Just an idea.

That's a good guess, but incorrect. You're on the right track though.

Hmm. The other big that came to mind is...Dikembe Mutombo?

I'm going to say it's either Michael Cooper or Alvin Robertson.

Hmm. The other big that came to mind is...Dikembe Mutombo?


You are correct...Dikembe Mutombo was the DPoY in 1995, but David Robinson was named to the NBA's All-Defensive first team.... Mutombo was 2nd team all defense.

The reason for the discrepancy in 1995 is because the DPOY is selected by sports writers and broadcasters, whereas the All-Defensive team is selected by the league's coaches. So it happened once, and could happen again some day.

Here's a link to the 1995 NBA stat leaders and award winners:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1995.html


You'll notice that the NBA all defensive first team consisted of:

Mookie Blaylock
Gary Payton
Scottie Pippen
Daivd Robinson and
Dennis Rodman

while Mutombo was 2nd team all defense. But he did win DPoY that season.


I took a look at the other years since DPoY was started back in 1983. Mutombo's 1995 award appears to be the only time that anyone has won the award without being 1st team all defense.



Darren J - I also wondered about Cooper, I knew he was DPoY in '87 - I'm a Lakers fan - but I wondered if he made first team all defense, because he wasn't typically a starter. But Cooper did make the All Defensive First team that year, even though he only started 2 games... he did play in all 82 games for the 5th straight year in 1987, and avg about 28 min/game that year.



I also had a clue that I was going to give in case no one got it in the first few tries... I was going to say that the correct player was a one-time teammate of Alonzo Mourning (the first answer guessed)....of course, that's a bit of a trick, because they were actually teammates at Georgetown for 3 years, although they were never teammates in the NBA.

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So your next assignment, guys, is to go out and dazzle your friends with this tidbit of trivia!