Isaiah Stewart has taken the next step in his defensive game, helping the Pistons climb to the top of the Eastern Conference.
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During Isaiah Stewart’s rookie season, a Paul George one-handed flush unintentionally helped turn him into the rim protector he is today.
Back in that April 2021 game, Stewart was the Detroit Pistons’ last line of defense as George exploded down the lane. He elevated off two feet and punched home an emphatic slam over Stewart’s outstretched arms.
“I just remember moments like that, and how I felt. I was pissed.” Stewart told The Athletic. “I’m like, ‘Man, I’ve got to block that.’ It’s just like, ‘How can I block these? How can I turn (these dunk attempts) into my favor?’”
Rather than allowing that moment to discourage him from challenging opponents at the rim, it instead fueled Stewart’s love for shot blocking. Even apart from George’s dunk, Stewart experienced being on the wrong side of a fair share of posters early in his career.
Those posters, especially George’s, played a major role in Stewart becoming the anchor of the Pistons’ No. 2-ranked defense in the NBA.
“I used to always hear a lot of trash talk after (being dunked on),” Stewart said. “Obviously, guys are trying to clown you for that. At the end of the day, so what? I’ve got the heart to go challenge it, and (I’m) not afraid of getting dunked. My love came from there.”
Stewart’s affinity for rim protection has manifested in 78 blocks through 40 games this season. Not only does he have the fifth-most blocks in the league, but also he has the lowest defended field-goal percentage (43.0) at the rim for players who have logged at least 30 games.
In December, he was named the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month.
His 2.0 blocks per game put him on pace for a career best and have already elevated him to the 10th spot in Detroit’s franchise history for blocks.
“He’s the best defensive center in the league, and it’s not close,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after their Dec. 5 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. “I think it’s time that everybody who watches basketball recognizes it. It’s not just something that we see here in Detroit. He’s the best defensive big in the game.”
Stewart had just notched his fifth game of the season with at least four blocks and tallied 11 over a three-game stretch. Cade Cunningham, Stewart’s longest-tenured teammate, took it a step further when giving him credit.
“I think he’s the best defensive player in the league,” Cunningham said. “I would like to see him get a Defensive Player of the Year award, because I think he deserves it. I see people’s best defenders all the time. I’m thankful I don’t have to see Stew every night.
“He’s just different. He can guard a quick, shifty point guard. He can go guard a bruising big man. He can do it all, and he’s going to meet everybody at the rim.”
Cade Cunningham officially starts the Isaiah Stewart Defensive Player of the Year campaign:
“He can guard a quick, shifty point guard. He can go guard a bruising big man. He can do it all, and he’s going to meet everybody at the rim.” pic.twitter.com/BUu0ELWmLy
— Hunter Patterson (@HunterPatterson) December 6, 2025
Statistics show Stewart is one of the league’s best defenders.
Look no further than his block percentage (4.1 percent) entering Sunday. Stewart ranks in the 96th percentile for bigs, per Cleaning the Glass, which is, again, on pace to be a career high. Block percentage accounts for the percentage of opposing shot attempts a player blocks.
When asked if he was aiming for Defensive Player of the Year, Stewart made his intentions clear.
“It is the goal,” Stewart said. “I truly believe I am the best defender in the league. … I may not always get the block. But I’m altering shots, I’m taping holes in our defense. So that’s my goal, that’s something I’m working toward.”
Aside from Stewart’s advanced and traditional stats that illustrate how effective he is as a shot blocker, he has a distinguishing quality that’s a prerequisite for most elite shot blockers. It’s a key component in his desire to continue putting himself in a position to send shots away at the rim.
It all boils down to fearlessness in the paint.
“It’s kind of like a fight,” Stewart said. “You can’t be scared to get punched, you know what I mean? So for me, it’s just like, OK, you got your dunk. You got your little punch in, but I’m still here and I’m not fading away. I’m going to be here and I’m going to challenge you every time. A lot of it is heart.
“As much that goes into skill and having the patience, you’ve got to have this (patting his heart). There’s a hundred possessions, at least, in a game. You can’t pick and choose when you want to guard the rim.”
Another day. Another Stew BLOCK. 🚫 pic.twitter.com/28ZRsglHnA
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 27, 2025
Stewart’s patience in the paint began paying dividends last season. He played a career-high 72 games and blocked a career-best 101 shots.
A first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Stewart has been studying since joining the Pistons. He compiled offensive and defensive notes in a binder after watching film on each game. After his film study, Stewart would jot down three notes to remember for the upcoming game and do his best to apply what he’d written.
In Stewart’s rookie year, he worked with then-assistant coach Sean Sweeney to form the habits he’s used to refine his game. Those habits have been essential to Stewart’s progression.
“We’d watch film together after every game on the plane,” Stewart said. “I’d have my binder, and I just got into that habit of watching film consistently early on.”
Those plane rides developed how Stewart approaches different types of block attempts. He began by explaining his process when a ballhandler is coming down the lane right toward him.
“(If an offensive player) is coming directly at me, I’m patient,” Stewart said. “I’m just sitting there waiting. I’m not jumpy. I’m able to slow myself down, have composure and breathe. Because during that time, he’s coming down toward you, it spikes your blood pressure. This guy is about to try to come take my head off and I am trying to go block it.”
When Stewart is coming from the weak side after helping and recovering, he’s forced to be more calculated.
“You have to have a quick second jump because you’ve got to be able to stop the ball coming this way,” he said. “All while you’ve got pressure or a lob threat coming out of that dunker spot to try to put one on you. So it’s more so being patient while knowing whether he’s trying to bait you, or knowing if he’s actually trying to score.
“I try to do a good job of gauging if he is actually going to score or if he’s baiting me. If he does (bait me), I know I’ve got to be quick to that second one because he’s going to dunk it right away.”
To some degree, Stewart’s stature can give him a deceptive advantage. Though he is 6 feet 8, Stewart has a 7-5 wingspan that offsets the height disparity he faces most nights.
“They’re probably like, ‘Man, this guy, he’s an undersized big. He’s not about to block my shot, he’s just talking.’ Then they come challenge me, and I think it catches them off guard,” he said. “Yeah, I’m thirsty to block the ball, but I’m also smart enough to know how they’re trying to bait or how they’re trying to get shots.
“Sometimes they might not even take the shot. I feel like my presence right now is so big at the rim, that some guys don’t even want to take shots.”
So, what makes Stewart so special as a rim protector?
“He’s got elite timing and elite instincts,” Bickerstaff said. “The courage that he has to go and make those plays, a lot of people just aren’t willing to. If a guy gets dunked on one time now and they’re on a highlight, they just refuse to go challenge shots. Stew is the opposite of that. He challenges everything.
“If a guy dunks on him, all that makes him want to do is go get another one. That’s what makes him unique, is that courage to sacrifice himself to do what’s right. And he does it every single possession.”
We’re just over the halfway point in the season, and Stewart is the backbone of Detroit’s defense. The Pistons have a 108.6 defensive rating and Stewart has double the number of blocks of any other player on the team.
“It’s a luxury to have somebody like that on your team,” Cunningham said. “Stew is the anchor of our defense and he always has been.
“It’s a luxury to have him.”
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Hunter Patterson is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Detroit Pistons. Before joining the NBA staff, Hunter was an editor on The Athletic’s news desk and provided occasional Sacramento Kings coverage. Prior to The Athletic, he worked for the NBA as a broadcasting assistant. Hunter graduated from Loyola Marymount University and earned his master’s degree in Specialized Journalism at the University of Southern California.
