LNB Pro A Best Defender

The LNB Pro A Best Defender Award is an annual professional basketball award that is given by the top tier division in France, the LNB Pro A. It is awarded to the most valuable defensive player in each Pro A regular season.

Winners

Florent Piétrus won the award twice, in 2002 and 2015

^	Denotes player who is still active in the Pro A
*	Inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame or the French Basketball Academy
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has received the award

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
1985–86	Allen Bunting	Forward	United States	Olympique Antibes
1986–87	Richard Dacoury*	Guard/forward	France	Limoges CSP
1987–88	Richard Dacoury* (2)
1988–89	Richard Dacoury* (3)
1989–90	Richard Dacoury* (4)
1990–91	Richard Dacoury* (5)
1991–92	Richard Dacoury* (6)
1992–93	Richard Dacoury* (7)
1993–94	Richard Dacoury* (8)
1994–95	Richard Dacoury* (9)
1995–96	Arsène Ade-Mensah	Guard		Olympique Antibes
1996–97	Jim Bilba	Center		ASVEL
1997–98	Arsène Ade-Mensah (2)	Guard		Paris Basket Racing
1998–99	Jim Bilba (2)	Center		ASVEL
1999–2000	Jim Bilba (3)
2000–01	Jim Bilba (4)
2001–02	Florent Piétrus	Forward		Pau-Orthez
2002–03	Makan Dioumassi	Guard		Hyères-Toulon
2003–04	Thierry Rupert	Forward		SIG Strasbourg
2004–05	Michael Mokongo	Guard	Central Africa^[a]	Élan Chalon
2005–06	John Linehan	Forward	United States	Racing Paris/SIG Strasbourg
2006–07	Marc-Antoine Pellin	Guard	France	Chorale Roanne
2007–08	Dounia Issa	Forward	France	JA Vichy
2008–09	Tony Dobbins	Guard	Italy	Orléans Loiret
2009–10	John Linehan (2)		United States	Cholet
2010–11	John Linehan (3)		United States	SLUC Nancy
2011–12	Andrew Albicy		France	BCM Gravelines
2012–13	Tony Dobbins (2)		Italy	Poitiers
2013–14	Tony Dobbins (3)		Italy	JDA Dijon
2014–15	Florent Piétrus (2)	Forward	France	SLUC Nancy
2015–16	Charles Lombahe-Kahudi^	Guard/forward	France^[b]	ASVEL
2016–17	Moustapha Fall	Center	France	Élan Chalon
2017–18	Aaron Craft^[1]	Guard	United States	Monaco
2018–19	Lahaou Konaté^	Shooting guard	France	Nanterre 92
2019–20	Not awarded^[c]
2020–21	Moustapha Fall (2)^	Center	France	ASVEL
2021–22	Ismaël Kamagate^[2]	Center		Paris Basketball
2022–23	Victor Wembanyama^[3]	Forward/center		Metropolitans 92
2023–24	John Brown^[4]	Forward	United States	AS Monaco Basket
2024–25	Alpha Diallo	Forward	United States	AS Monaco Basket

Awards by players

Rank	Player	Awards
1	Richard Dacoury	9
2	Jim Bilba	4
3	John Lineman	3
3	Tony Dobbins	3
5	Florent Piétrus	2
5	Moustapha Fall	2

Notes

^ Mokongo, born in Bimbo, Central African Republic, also owns the French nationality.
^ Charles Lombahe-Kahudi, born in Kinshasa, also owns the Congolese nationality.
^ There was no awarding in the 2019–20, because the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

References

^ Harrish, Kevin (23 October 2019). "Aaron Craft Will Retire From Basketball and Enroll in Medical School Following EuroLeague Season". Eleven Warriors. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
^ Askounis, Johnny (16 August 2022). "Paris retains youngsters Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate - Eurohoops". www.eurohoops.net. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
^ Kassim, Ehsan (27 July 2024). "Where is Victor Wembanyama from? What to know of French star center at 2024 Paris Olympics". USA TODAY. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
^ Perley, Sam (15 November 2024). "Kemba Walker Reaches Finality Of Playing Career, Finds Closure In Monaco | Charlotte Hornets". NBA.com. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

[1] Mokongo, born in Bimbo, Central African Republic, also owns the French nationality.

[2] Charles Lombahe-Kahudi, born in Kinshasa, also owns the Congolese nationality.

[4] There was no awarding in the 2019–20, because the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

[3] Harrish, Kevin (23 October 2019). "Aaron Craft Will Retire From Basketball and Enroll in Medical School Following EuroLeague Season". Eleven Warriors. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

[5] Askounis, Johnny (16 August 2022). "Paris retains youngsters Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate - Eurohoops". www.eurohoops.net. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

[6] Kassim, Ehsan (27 July 2024). "Where is Victor Wembanyama from? What to know of French star center at 2024 Paris Olympics". USA TODAY. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

[7] Perley, Sam (15 November 2024). "Kemba Walker Reaches Finality Of Playing Career, Finds Closure In Monaco | Charlotte Hornets". NBA.com. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

[a]

[b]

[1]

[c]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e LNB Élite
LNB FFBB List of Clubs List of Venues Awards French League System French Basketball Hall of Fame
2024–25 teams	AS Monaco ASVEL Bourg-en-Bresse Cholet Dijon Élan Chalon Gravelines-Dunkerque Le Mans Le Portel Limoges Nancy Nanterre Paris Saint-Quentin Stade Rochelais Strasbourg
Seasons	1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Other competitions	Leaders Cup (League Cup) French Cup (Federation Cup) Match des Champions (Supercup)
Awards	Awards MVP Finals MVP Best Scorer Best Defender Best Sixth Man Most Improved Player Best Young Player Best Coach
Other	All-Star Game French clubs in international competitions