NEW YORK– The San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, who helped the team finish with the NBA’s top defense this season, is the recipient of the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today.  Leonard, a 6-7 forward, becomes the first non-center to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Leonard received 84 first-place votes and 547 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.  He edged the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, who tallied 44 first-place votes and 421 points to finish as runner-up for the second season in a row.  The Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside was third with 83 points (two first-place votes).  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.

A first-time NBA All-Star this season, Leonard contributed to a San Antonio defense that led the NBA in points allowed (92.9 ppg) and defensive rating (96.6 points per 100 possessions).  The Spurs, a franchise-record 67-15 this season, were even stingier on defense with Leonard in the game: According to NBA.com/Stats, they had a defensive rating of 94.9 when the five-year veteran was on the court and 99.2 when he wasn’t – a difference of 4.3 points per 100 possessions.  Leonard also averaged 1.78 steals (12^th in the NBA), 5.5 defensive rebounds and a career-high 0.99 blocks to go with career highs on offense of 21.2 points and 2.6 assists.

As part of its support of the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kia Motors America (KMA) will donate a brand new Sorento CUV to Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas – which has provided grief-support programs for area children since 1997 – on Leonard’s behalf.  Kia will present a 2016 Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five 2015-16 year-end award winners as part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards.  Following this season, Kia will have donated a total of 43 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious honors began in 2008.

The 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award is part of a series of on-court performance awards called the Kia NBA Performance Awards.  The series, currently in its ninth season, is part of a multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors and the NBA, and includes five of the league’s most prestigious year-end honors: Kia Most Valuable Player, Kia Defensive Player of the Year, Kia Sixth Man, Kia Most Improved Player and Kia Rookie of the Year.  The series also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month and the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month during the regular season.  Kia Motors is the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA and the Kia Optima is the league’s Official Vehicle.  For more information, please visit www.kia.com/NBA.

For the third year in a row, complete media voting results for each NBA annual award will be posted on NBA.com/official after the announcement of each winner.

Below are the balloting results for the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.  The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

2015-16 KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

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
2011-12        Tyson Chandler, New York
2012-13        Marc Gasol, Memphis
2013-14        Joakim Noah, Chicago
2014-15        Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio
2015-16        Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio