Dwight Howard is NBA's Defensive Player of the Year

The Orlando Magic may have lost their first 2009 playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers, but it was not by any stretch because of a poor performance from Dwight Howard.

Superman finished with 31 points (11-13 FG), 16 rebounds, and two blocks, and now will be rewarded for his performance in the regular season.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Howard has been named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2008-09, a season in which he led the league in rebounds per game with 13.8 and blocks per game with 2.92.

At 23 years and 128 days old, Howard is the youngest player ever to receive the award. It’s also conceivable that the best days are yet to come for Howard, which makes this first award of his a tremendous accomplishment.

Howard received 542 points, including 105 first-place votes. LeBron James finished second with 148 points and Miami's Dwyane Wade finished third with 90.

Here are some highlights of just why Howard is considered the NBA’s best defensive player. These clips are not from this season, but are pretty much the same kind of dominance we’ve seen from Howard in 2008-09.