NBA Jaren Jackson Jr. wins DPOY, immortalizing Hakeem Olajuwon

The first Hakeem Olajuwon NBA Defensive Player of the Year award went to Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. Jackson won the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for the 2022–23 NBA season. The Memphis big man was the second player to receive the accolade while wearing a Grizzlies uniform on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Ten years ago, Marc Gasol was the first to do it, and now he has joined that exclusive group. Jackson led the league with 3.0 blocks per game this year after finishing fifth in the voting for defensive player of the year the season before. Jackson was declared the winner of the prize with 56 first-place votes and 391 total voting points. He finished ahead of Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks, who received 31 first-place votes and 309 points to finish in second place. In just his second NBA season, Cleveland's Evan Mobley finished third with eight first-place votes and 101 points.