Joakim Noah will win NBA Defensive Player of the Year, according to report
The Bulls’ center beats out Indiana’s Roy Hibbert and a host of others for the crown.
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in a press conference later Monday, according to Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago. The Bulls have only officially said that there will be a “major” announcement in a 5 p.m. ET press conference.
2014 NBA Playoffs
Noah beats out Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and several other worthy candidates for the honor. Hibbert emerged as the early front-runner as the Pacers used a stifling defense to race out to a fast start, but Noah emerged late as the Bulls began to surge from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the top. The Pacers’ decline certainly helped Noah’s case as well. Indiana still finished with the league’s best defense per 100 possessions, but Chicago was just over a point behind.
The Bulls were actually about as good defensively with Noah in (97.7 points allowed/100 possessions) than with him on the bench (98) for the season as a whole, per NBA.com. However, since Luol Deng was traded on Jan. 7, Noah’s defensive importance has grown. The Bulls have been over eight points worse per 100 possessions with Noah on the bench since that deal, per NBA.com.
Noah becomes the second Bulls player to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Michael Jordan earned the honor in 1987-88.
