BAL Defensive Player of the Year

{{Infobox sports award

| name = BAL Dikembe Mutombo Defensive Player of the Year

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| sport = Basketball

| league = Basketball Africa League

| givenfor = Best defensive player in the season of the Basketball Africa League

| first = 2021

| mostwins = Aliou Diarra (2 times)

| mostrecent = Aliou Diarra (2025)

}}

The Basketball Africa League Dikembe Mutombo Defensive Player of the Year is an annual Basketball Africa League (BAL) award given to the best defensive player of a given season. The award is named after Congolese basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo. The award was first handed out in the inaugural season to Anas Osama Mahmoud.{{cite news |title=Zamalek are the champions of the inaugural Basketball Africa League |url=https://www.thebal.com/news/zamalek-are-the-champions-of-the-inaugural-basketball-league |access-date=6 June 2021 |work=The BAL |date=30 May 2021 |archive-date=30 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530223326/https://www.thebal.com/news/zamalek-are-the-champions-of-the-inaugural-basketball-league |url-status=dead }}

Players of the four teams that qualified for the semifinals can be selected. The selection committee exists of a number of BAL experts, including the head coaches of all teams.

Aliou Diarra holds the record for most awards won, as he received the honour two times.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-13 |title=Diarra wins second BAL Defensive Player of the Year award |url=https://bal.nba.com/news/diarra-wins-second-bal-defensive-player-of-the-year-award |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=The BAL |language=en}} Jo Lual-Acuil, winner of the award in 2024, is the only player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the same season.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-01 |title=Acuil-Jr. dominates 2024 BAL Awards |url=https://bal.nba.com/news/acuil-jr-dominates-2024-bal-awards |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=The BAL |language=en}}

Winners

File:Aliou Diarra.jpg has won two awards]]

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
scope="col"\| Season !scope="col"\| Player !scope="col"\| Position !scope="col"\| Nationality !scope="col"\| Club !scope="col" \| {{Tooltip\|Ref\|Reference(s)}}
2021 !scope="row"\| {{sortname\|Anas\|Mahmoud}} \| Center \| {{flagu\|Egypt}} \| {{flagicon\|EGY}} Zamalek \| align=center \|
2022 !scope="row"\| {{sortname\|Ater\|Majok}} \| Center \| {{flagu\|South Sudan}}{{efn\|Majok owns the Australian and Lebanese nationality, but played as an African import in the BAL due to his South Sudanese heritage.}} \| {{flagicon\|TUN}} US Monastir \| align=center \| {{cite news \|title=US Monastir are the 2022 Basketball Africa League Champions \|url=https://bal.nba.com/news/us-monastir-are-the-2022-basketball-africa-league-champions \|access-date=29 May 2022 \|work=The BAL \|date=28 May 2022 \|language=en}}
2023 !scope="row"\|{{Sortname\|Aliou\|Diarra}} \|Center \|{{Flagu\|Mali}} \|{{flagicon\|MLI}} Stade Malien \|align="center"\|{{Cite web \|date=2023-05-28 \|title=DIARRA, OMOT, GUEYE, PERRY HIGHLIGHT 2023 BAL AWARDS \|url=https://bal.nba.com/news/diarra-omot-gueye-perry-highlight-2023-bal-awards \|access-date=2023-06-02 \|website=The BAL \|language=en}}
2024 !scope="row"\|{{Sortname\|Jo\|Lual-Acuil}} \|Center \|{{Flagu\|South Sudan}} \|{{flagicon\|LBY}} Al Ahly Ly \|align="center"\|
2025 !scope="row"\|{{Sortname\|Aliou\|Diarra}} (2) \|Center \|{{Flagu\|Mali}} \|{{flagicon\|RWA}} APR \|align="center"\|

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

scope="col"| Season

!scope="col"| Player

!scope="col"| Position

!scope="col"| Nationality

!scope="col"| Club

!scope="col" | {{Tooltip|Ref|Reference(s)}}

2021

!scope="row"| {{sortname|Anas|Mahmoud}}

| Center

| {{flagu|Egypt}}

| {{flagicon|EGY}} Zamalek

| align=center |

2022

!scope="row"| {{sortname|Ater|Majok}}

| Center

| {{flagu|South Sudan}}{{efn|Majok owns the Australian and Lebanese nationality, but played as an African import in the BAL due to his South Sudanese heritage.}}

| {{flagicon|TUN}} US Monastir

| align=center | {{cite news |title=US Monastir are the 2022 Basketball Africa League Champions |url=https://bal.nba.com/news/us-monastir-are-the-2022-basketball-africa-league-champions |access-date=29 May 2022 |work=The BAL |date=28 May 2022 |language=en}}

2023

!scope="row"|{{Sortname|Aliou|Diarra}}

|Center

|{{Flagu|Mali}}

|{{flagicon|MLI}} Stade Malien

|align="center"|{{Cite web |date=2023-05-28 |title=DIARRA, OMOT, GUEYE, PERRY HIGHLIGHT 2023 BAL AWARDS |url=https://bal.nba.com/news/diarra-omot-gueye-perry-highlight-2023-bal-awards |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=The BAL |language=en}}

2024

!scope="row"|{{Sortname|Jo|Lual-Acuil}}

|Center

|{{Flagu|South Sudan}}

|{{flagicon|LBY}} Al Ahly Ly

|align="center"|

2025

!scope="row"|{{Sortname|Aliou|Diarra}} (2)

|Center

|{{Flagu|Mali}}

|{{flagicon|RWA}} APR

|align="center"|

Notes

References

Defensive Player of the Year