Dwight Howard wins his third straight Kia Defensive Player of the Year Award

Photo taken by Fernando Medina.

As I -along with every sane basketball fan alive- predicted this morning, Dwight Howard did indeed win his third consecutive Kia Defensive Player of the Year Award. Howard becomes the first player to earn the honor three straight seasons; only Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, with four each, have won the award more times.

Dwight led the league with 66 double-doubles, including six 20-point/20-rebound efforts, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 rpg) and fourth in blocks (2.38 bpg). With Howard manning the middle, the Magic allowed 93.5 ppg, ranking fourth in that category. The seventh-year veteran reached several historical milestones this season, including:

• On March 1 vs. New York, Howard, at 25 years and 83 days old, became the youngest player in NBA history to amass 7,000 career rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain, who was 26 years and 128 days old when he passed the 7,000-rebound plateau.
• He recorded at least 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots for the sixth straight year; since blocked shots were officially tracked in 1973-74, only Moses Malone has done it more (seven seasons).
• He became one of only five players in NBA history since blocked shots became an official statistic in 1973-74 to record at least 6,000 rebounds and 1,000 blocked shots in his first 500 games.

As part of its support of the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kia Motors America will donate a new Kia Sorento CUV to BETA Center, a private, nonprofit organization with 32 years of experience helping families in the greater Orlando area. Kia presented the brand new Sorento to the charity of Dwight’s choice.

Pictured (left to right): District Sales Manager for Kia Motors America, Southern Region, Brett Myers; BETA Center member Kenesha Robinson and daughter Kenya; Howard; BETA Center member Michelle Veloz; BETA Center President/CEO Ruth Patrick; and BETA Center Board Chair Walter Hawkins. Photo taken by Fernando Medina.

Howard received 585 points, including 114 first-place votes, from a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Boston’s Kevin Garnett finished second with 77 points and Dallas’ Tyson Chandler finished third with 70 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

After the jump you can see the full voting results:

2010-11 KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

PLAYER        TEAM         1st Place (5 Pts)     2nd Place (3 Pts)   3rd Place (1 pt)   Total Pts

Dwight Howard    Orlando                                   114                            5                           –                       585

Kevin Garnett             Boston                                      1                                  20                        12                       77

Tyson Chandler         Dallas                                       –                                  20                        10                        70

Tony Allen                   Memphis                                  –                                  12                         17                       53

Rajon Rondo               Boston                                      –                                  14                          3                         45

Andrew Bogut            Milwaukee                                –                               6                              14                       32

Grant Hill                     Phoenix                                    1                                   7                              4                        30

Andre Iguodala         Philadelphia                              –                            5                                14                      29

LeBron James           Miami                                       –                                 7                                  4                       25

Luol Deng                    Chicago                                     –                                  5                                  9                      24

Kobe Bryant               L.A. Lakers                              –                                5                                  3                       18

Chuck Hayes              Houston                                    2                                 –                                  3                       13

Chris Paul                   New Orleans                             –                                  3                                  4                     13

Serge Ibaka               Oklahoma City                          –                               2                                  6                         12

Joakim Noah            Chicago                                     1                                 2                                   –                         11

Dwyane Wade           Miami                                       –                                  2                                  2                            8

Tim Duncan               San Antonio                              –                               2                                   1                           7

Ron Artest                 L.A. Lakers                              –                                1                                    3                           6

JaVale McGee           Washington                               –                              1                                    2                           5

Keith Bogans             Chicago                                     1                                –                                     –                          5

Thabo Sefolosha      Oklahoma City                          –                             –                                     4                          4

Andrew Bynum        L.A. Lakers                              –                             1                                      –                           3

Kenyon Martin         Denver                                      –                           –                                     2                             2

Gerald Wallace          Portland                                    –                           –                                     2                            2

Josh Smith                  Atlanta                                      –                            –                                     1                            1

ALL-TIME KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS

Season         Winner, Team

1982-83        Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee

1983-84        Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee

1984-85        Mark Eaton, Utah

1985-86        Alvin Robertson, San Antonio

1986-87        Michael Cooper, L.A. Lakers

1987-88        Michael Jordan, Chicago

1988-89        Mark Eaton, Utah

1989-90        Dennis Rodman, Detroit

1990-91        Dennis Rodman, Detroit

1991-92        David Robinson, San Antonio

1992-93        Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston

1993-94        Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston

1994-95        Dikembe Mutombo, Denver

1995-96        Gary Payton, Seattle

1996-97        Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta

1997-98        Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta

1998-99        Alonzo Mourning, Miami

1999-00        Alonzo Mourning, Miami

2000-01        Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia

2001-02        Ben Wallace, Detroit

2002-03        Ben Wallace, Detroit

2003-04        Ron Artest, Indiana

2004-05        Ben Wallace, Detroit

2005-06        Ben Wallace, Detroit

2006-07        Marcus Camby, Denver

2007-08        Kevin Garnett, Boston

2008-09        Dwight Howard, Orlando

2009-10        Dwight Howard, Orlando

2010-11        Dwight Howard, Orlando

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