Bulls' Joakim Noah named Defensive Player of the Year: Wins by landslide in voting
The NBA has officially announced that Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is the 2013-14 Defensive Player of the Year.
The @ChicagoBulls' @JoakimNoah named Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year! #KiaDPOY pic.twitter.com/mIyFxDpefX
— NBA (@NBA) April 21, 2014
Defensive Player of the Year @JoakimNoah accepts his hardware. #KiaDPOY pic.twitter.com/L0cfQJgujg
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 21, 2014
Noah is just the second Bulls player to win the award. The other was Michael Jordan, who took it home back in 1988.
Voting for the award was not nearly as close as some thought it would be, with Noah claiming the award in a landslide. Pacers center Roy Hibbert finished second in voting, and even he finished 389 points behind Noah.
100 first place votes went to Noah, while Hibbert and DeAndre Jordan claimed just eight apiece.
| Player | First-place | Second-place | Third-place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joakim Noah (CHI) | 100 | 17 | 4 | 555 |
| Roy Hibbert (IND) | 8 | 36 | 18 | 166 |
| DeAndre Jordan (LAC) | 8 | 23 | 12 | 121 |
| Serge Ibaka (OKC) | 2 | 17 | 18 | 79 |
| Andre Iguodala (GSW) | 1 | 7 | 21 | 47 |
| LeBron James (MIA) | 2 | 5 | 6 | 31 |
| Paul George (IND) | 0 | 5 | 15 | 30 |
| Anthony Davis (NO) | 1 | 4 | 8 | 25 |
| Dwight Howard (HOU) | 1 | 3 | 11 | 25 |
| Andrew Bogut (GSW) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Kawhi Leonard (SA) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| P.J. Tucker (PHX) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Tim Duncan (SA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Chris Paul (LAC) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Trevor Ariza (WSH) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Marc Gasol (MEM) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Patrick Beverley (HOU) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau had some kind words for his star center at the press conference on Monday.
"I know how I felt about him when we were playing against him." Thibodeau said. "Each year I think he's gotten better and better, and I think that's a testament to his will and determination."
Thibodeau added that the team was "up against it this year, and he didn't let it fall apart. That was huge for our team. I think he'll continue to get better. He's been great for our entire team in terms of his work ethic, setting the tone for us, and there's more to come."
Noah noted his up-and-down relationship with his head coach while accepting the award.
"Thibs, we've definitely had out hard times, our ups and downs. But without your system, this wouldn't be possible."
Noah: "Defense helps winning. Winning is definitely the most important thing." #KiaDPOY
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 21, 2014