The National Basketball Association Development Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual NBA Development League

NBA Development League

The NBA Development League, or NBA D-League, is the National Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization. Known until summer 2005 as the National Basketball Development League , the NBA D-League started with eight teams in the fall of 2001...

 (NBADL) award given since the 2001–02 NBDL season. From 2001–02 through 2004–05 the league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), and since 2005–06 it has been called the NBA Development League in an effort to more closely associate with the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA), the league to which it is a feeder system for player development. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the NBADL's playoffs.

Through the 2010–11 season, only one player has been named the Defensive POY more than once; Derrick Zimmerman

Derrick Zimmerman

Derrick Dewayne Zimmerman is an American professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Mississippi State University....

 won in 2005 and 2006 as a member of the Columbus Riverdragons and Austin Toros

Austin Toros

The Austin Toros are a NBA Development League minor league basketball team based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States.The team plays home games at Cedar Park Center.Their logo is the design of a bull and basketball with the state of Texas in the background...

, respectively. Jeff Myers was the inaugural winner while playing for the Greenville Groove

Greenville Groove

The Greenville Groove were a National Basketball Development League team based in Greenville, South Carolina. Playing their home games at the BI-LO Center, the Groove was a charter franchise and league champions for the 2001-02 season but folded after the 2002-03 season.The National Basketball...

. A guard, he averaged 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals that season. By position

Basketball position

The three basketball positions normally employed by organized basketball teams are guard, forward, and center. More specifically, they can be classified into the five positions: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. The rules of basketball do not mandate them, and...

, forwards and centers

Center (basketball)

The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

 have had four winners apiece while three guards were named the defensive player of the year. Two international players have been recipients, and coincidentally both were named co-defensive players of the year in 2007–08. Stephane Lasme

Stephane Lasme

Yann Ulrich Stephane Lasme is a Gabonese professional basketball player. Lasme played NCAA college basketball at the University of Massachusetts , and he was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the second round, 46th overall, in the 2007 NBA Draft...

 of Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

 and Mouhamed Sene

Mouhamed Sene

Mouhamed Saer Sene is a Senegalese professional basketball player currently playing for Baloncesto Fuenlabrada from the Spanish ACB. A center, he is noted for his shot-blocking potential because of his 7 ft 8½ in wingspan....

 of Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 were the winners, and each plays the forward position as well.

The most recent winner is center Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson (basketball)

Chris Johnson is an American professional basketball center with the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association .In January 2010 he signed a contract with Turów Zgorzelec from Poland....

 of the Dakota Wizards

Dakota Wizards

The Dakota Wizards are an American basketball team in the NBA Development League, based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Home games are played at the Bismarck Civic Center.-Beginnings in IBA:...

.

Key

†	Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
2001–02		Guard		Greenville Groove Greenville Groove The Greenville Groove were a National Basketball Development League team based in Greenville, South Carolina. Playing their home games at the BI-LO Center, the Groove was a charter franchise and league champions for the 2001-02 season but folded after the 2002-03 season.The National Basketball...
2002–03		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Roanoke Dazzle Roanoke Dazzle The Roanoke Dazzle were an NBA Development League team based in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A.. In operation from the inaugural D-League season of 2001-02 through the 2005-06 season, the Dazzle marked the return of professional basketball to Roanoke since the Virginia Squires called Roanoke home in the...
2003–04		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Charleston Lowgators Florida Flame The Florida Flame were a NBA Development League team based in Fort Myers, Florida. Its logo represents a basketball on fire moving at high speed....
2004–05		Guard		Columbus Riverdragons
2005–06	(2)	Guard		Austin Toros Austin Toros The Austin Toros are a NBA Development League minor league basketball team based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States.The team plays home games at Cedar Park Center.Their logo is the design of a bull and basketball with the state of Texas in the background...
2006–07		Forward		Dakota Wizards Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards are an American basketball team in the NBA Development League, based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Home games are played at the Bismarck Civic Center.-Beginnings in IBA:...
2007–08†		Forward		Los Angeles D-Fenders Los Angeles D-Fenders The Los Angeles D-Fenders are a NBA Development League team based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, which became the first National Basketball Association franchise to own a D-League team...
2007–08†		Forward		Idaho Stampede Idaho Stampede The Idaho Stampede is an American basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. The team is based in the Boise, Idaho, area and as of 2005 plays at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise. The team was founded as a member of the Continental Basketball Association in 1997 and was league runner-up...
2008–09		Forward		Idaho Stampede Idaho Stampede The Idaho Stampede is an American basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. The team is based in the Boise, Idaho, area and as of 2005 plays at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise. The team was founded as a member of the Continental Basketball Association in 1997 and was league runner-up...
2009–10		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Sioux Falls Skyforce Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce is a professional basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. They are based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The team plays at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Skyforce began in the CBA in 1989...
2010–11 2010–11 NBA Development League season The 2010–11 NBA Development League season is the tenth season of the NBA Development League . The NBA D-League is the official minor league basketball organization owned and run by the National Basketball Association . The league was formed in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League...		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Dakota Wizards Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards are an American basketball team in the NBA Development League, based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Home games are played at the Bismarck Civic Center.-Beginnings in IBA:...