BAL Defensive Player of the Year
| Basketball Africa League awards and honours |
|---|
| Individual awards |
| Honors |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| League | Basketball Africa League |
| Awarded for | Best defensive player in the season of the Basketball Africa League |
| History | |
| First award | 2021 |
| Most wins | Aliou Diarra (2 times) |
| Most recent | 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.
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. 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.