Evan Mobley Gets Honest About His Case For DPOY Award

For years, fans and analysts claimed that Evan Mobley was going to be the X factor for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Notably, this season has proved they were right all along.

Mobley has made a big leap in his first year under Kenny Atkinson.

While he was already a very good defender, he’s playing the best defense of his young career.

That’s why, now that he’s made a big case to win Defensive Player of the Year, he finally decided to come clean, stop being humble, and share his honest thoughts on that situation:

“My biggest thing is, a guy my size, my wingspan, my agility, you don’t really see that. In the contenders, there is nobody even close to that. The stats as well, speak for itself. The blocks, the fouls, the steals the deflections. People don’t even go up against me in the paint so that’s not even a stat,” he said.

Evan Mobley on his case for DPOY:

“My biggest thing is, a guy my size, my wingspan, my agility, you don’t really see that. In the contenders, there is nobody even close to that. The stats as well, speak for itself. The blocks, the fouls, the steals the deflections. People don’t… pic.twitter.com/2s51gJNNWq

— Dylan🔮🪼 (@dillybar2145__) April 9, 2025

Mobley’s right about everything he’s said.

His presence there gives his teammates so much freedom to take chances and risks because they know he can block shots or challenge every shot if they get to the restricted area.

That’s the kind of defensive impact that doesn’t always show up in the stat line.

Then again, his stats also back up his case.

Mobley is one of the few players in the league who can routinely guard one through five.

Despite not being the bulkiest big in the game, he can hold his ground against physical competition, but he can also stay in front of quicker and smaller guards.

This shouldn’t even be a debate at this point in the season.

And unlike Rudy Gobert, a perennial candidate, there’s no situation in the game in which the coach has to take Mobley out.

If anything, they need him there to close out games.