Nets’ Nic Claxton receives zero votes for NBA’s 2023-24 DPOY award

The Brooklyn Nets are in the summer portion of their operations as they look for ways to improve the team enough to make it back to the playoffs next season. As they progress through their offseason, one of Brooklyn’s best players did not receive a single vote for one of the most prestigious awards in the NBA.

On Tuesday, the NBA announced that Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert won the 2023-24 Defensive Player of the Year award, the fourth time that he won the accolade in his career. Along with the announcement, the league also posted the voting results for the award and Nets center Nic Claxton did not receive a single vote.

While the award was expected to come down to Gobert and San Antonio Spurs Center Victor Wembanyama, it was somewhat surprising to see Claxton not get a single vote despite his defensive numbers not changing much. Claxton, 25, averaged 2.1 blocks per game (eighth in the NBA) and was 23rd in the league in Defensive Win Shares (3.2).

In the 2022-23 season, Claxton averaged 2.5 blocks per game (tied for second) and as a result, received the seventh-most votes for that year’s Defensive Player of the Year award. One possible reason for this is because of the Nets finishing with a 32-50 record and ending this season 20th in defensive rating (116.1).

Claxton has spoken about the award numerous times over the past couple years in terms of how he feels that he’s one of the better defensive centers in the league even if he doesn’t win the award. New Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez recently said that he believes that Claxton will be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate again soon enough.

Story originally appeared on Nets Wire