Wallace

NEW YORK, May 8 – The NBA announced today that Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons has won the 2005-06 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, marking the fourth time in his career that he has captured the trophy as the league’s best defender.

With this year’s honor, Wallace becomes the only player in NBA history to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award four times in five years and joins Dikembe Mutombo as the only players to earn the award in four separate seasons.

Ben Wallace successfully defended his standing as NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Allen Einstein/NBAE/Getty Images

The 6-9 center averaged 11.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and a career-high 1.8 steals to anchor a defense which ranked third in the league for fewest points allowed per game (90.2). Wallace was the only player in the league to rank in the top 10 in rebounds per game (fourth), blocks per game (ninth) and steals per game (10th). He became only the fifth player in league history to record 100 blocks and 100 steals in six consecutive seasons.

The four-time Defensive Player of the Year led all NBA centers in rebounding and steals, guiding the Pistons to a Central Division crown and the best record in franchise history (64-18). Wallace collected his 7,000th career rebound this season and became one of only 24 players in league history to record 1,600 blocks. Wallace, the all-time Pistons franchise leader in blocks, has finished in the NBA Top 10 in blocks for six consecutive seasons.

Wallace received 420 points, including 58 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. 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. San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen finished second with 308 points and Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko finished third with 121 points.

Attached are the 2005-06 results and the league’s all-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners:

2005-06 NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Ben Wallace, Detroit	58	39	13	420
Bruce Bowen, San Antonio	38	33	19	308
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah	12	11	28	121
Ron Artest, Sacramento	6	7	14	65
Marcus Camby, Denver	3	9	13	55
Tim Duncan, San Antonio	3	7	6	42
Shawn Marion, Phoenix	-	7	12	33
Alonzo Mourning, Miami	4	2	3	29
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte	-	7	6	27
Shane Battier, Memphis	-	1	-	3
Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers	-	1	-	3
Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia	-	-	2	2
James Posey, Miami	-	-	1	1
Raja Bell, Phoenix	-	-	1	1
P.J. Brown, NOK	-	-	1	1
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit	-	-	1	1
Andres Nocioni, Chicago	-	-	1	1
Eddie Jones, Memphis	-	-	1	1
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota	-	-	1	1
Tayshaun Prince, Detroit	-	-	1	1

ALL-TIME NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

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
1999-2000: 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