Dwight Howard Named Defensive Player Of The Year

Here is the official word from the NBA courtesy of the Orlando Magic:

"— All-Star First Player to Earn Honor Three Straight Seasons —NEW YORK, April 18, 2011 – Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2010-11 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. 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.The 6-11 center 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 Motors will present a brand new Sorento to the charity of choice of each of four 2010-11 season-end award winners as part of the “The Kia NBA Performance Awards.” Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 16 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious year-end honors began with the 2007-2008 season. 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.The 2010-11 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 fourth season, is a significant part of the multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors America and the NBA, and also includes the Most Improved Player, Sixth Man and Most Valuable Player of the Year Awards. It also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month which are awarded during the regular season. For more information on the “The Kia NBA Performance Awards” visit www.NBA.com/performanceawards. Attached are the 2010-11 results and the league’s all-time Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners: 2010-11 KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTSPLAYER                             TEAM                           1st Place (5 Pts)                2nd Place (3 Pts)        3rd Place (1 pt)         Total PointsDwight Howard Orlando                                  114                                    5                                      —                             585Kevin Garnett                  Boston                                     1                                        20                                   12                           77Tyson Chandler               Dallas                                       — 20                                   10                           70Tony Allen                       Memphis                                — 12                                   17                           53Rajon Rondo                    Boston                                     — 14                                   3                              45Andrew Bogut                 Milwaukee                             — 6                                      14                           32Grant Hill                          Phoenix                                  1                                        7                                      4                              30Andre Iguodala               Philadelphia                           — 5                                      14                           29LeBron James                  Miami                                      — 7                                      4                              25Luol Deng                        Chicago                                   — 5                                      9                              24Kobe Bryant                    L.A. Lakers                              — 5                                      3                              18Chuck Hayes                    Houston                                  2                                        — 3                              13Chris Paul                         New Orleans                          — 3                                      4                              13Serge Ibaka                      Oklahoma City                       — 2                                      6                              12Joakim Noah                    Chicago                                   1                                        2                                      — 11Dwyane Wade                Miami                                      — 2                                      2                              8Tim Duncan                     San Antonio                           — 2                                      1                              7Ron Artest                       L.A. Lakers                              — 1                                      3                              6JaVale McGee                 Washington                            — 1                                      2                              5Keith Bogans                   Chicago                                   1                                        — — 5Thabo Sefolosha             Oklahoma City                       — — 4                              4Andrew Bynum               L.A. Lakers                              — 1                                      — 3Kenyon Martin                Denver                                    — — 2                              2Gerald Wallace               Portland                                  — — 2                              2Josh Smith                       Atlanta                                    — — 1                              1ALL-TIME KIA NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS Season Winner, Team1982-83        Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee1983-84        Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee1984-85        Mark Eaton, Utah1985-86        Alvin Robertson, San Antonio1986-87        Michael Cooper, L.A. Lakers1987-88        Michael Jordan, Chicago1988-89        Mark Eaton, Utah1989-90        Dennis Rodman, Detroit1990-91        Dennis Rodman, Detroit1991-92        David Robinson, San Antonio1992-93        Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston1993-94        Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston1994-95        Dikembe Mutombo, Denver1995-96        Gary Payton, Seattle1996-97        Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta 1997-98        Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta1998-99        Alonzo Mourning, Miami1999-00        Alonzo Mourning, Miami2000-01        Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia2001-02        Ben Wallace, Detroit2002-03        Ben Wallace, Detroit2003-04        Ron Artest, Indiana2004-05        Ben Wallace, Detroit2005-06        Ben Wallace, Detroit2006-07        Marcus Camby, Denver2007-08        Kevin Garnett, Boston2008-09        Dwight Howard, Orlando2009-10        Dwight Howard, Orlando2010-11        Dwight Howard, Orlando"

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080’s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).