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Nov 1, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) shoots the ball as Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr (20) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Wizards Star Carrying Herculean Defensive Burden

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Nov 14, 2025 4:00 PM ET

Alex Sarr isn't just enjoying arguably the firmest sophomore leaps of anyone in his admittedly-lacking 2024 NBA Draft class. The Washington Wizards center is quickly lapping some of the fiercest big men in the game in ascending to star status, and he's shouldering more than meets the eye.

The No. 2 pick in that prospect class has fully earned the pre-draft praise he accrued, even after an up-and-down rookie season of sheepish shooting and the occasional out-muscling. He's learned how to leverage his intriguing jump shot with much-improved rim-finishing, using his seven-foot frame to its full advantage as a roller, off-the-dribble attacker and passing penetrator. Sarr's presently as complete an offensive player as the Wizards have on their roster, let alone their young core.

As impressive as his growing offensive attributes are, none of those aforementioned features are involved in the foundation of Sarr's game. He was drafted as a defensive prodigy above all-else, and even on a team lacking much of anyone to provide assistance, he continues to thrive on that end of the floor.

Sarr Stands Alone at His Post

According to NBA.com's data on how well opponents are shooting at the rim against specific defenders and how often those players are getting challenging, Sarr stands alone as the league's busiest workhorse, saddled with nearly twice the workload of the next-best stopper.

The Gap between Sarr and rest of the group is crazy. Impressive he’s doing it with such an impressive DFG% as well. Also Rudy https://t.co/0bipexgmtl pic.twitter.com/DOS5tKFqfR
— Hoopology (@hoopologyxx) November 13, 2025

Sarr's lack of guard help, one of the easiest explanations for his early Summer League struggles, was thought to have been making his job tougher as a rookie scorer, often needing point guards to feed him the ball on the inside to get going throughout the 2024-25 season.

As it turns out, he's been covering up for his teammates on the other side of the ball, too, somehow holding his own at a defensive rate nearing the league's elite shot-blockers while spending considerably more time in recovering to the rim to pick up slack.

This discovery lines up with some of Sarr's most intriguing defensive upside, given that he's one of the best in the sport at covering broad expanses cross-court and switching assignments to lock in any team-defense he's a part of. His translated abilities could have easily gone unnoticed, given the pungent, 29th ranked 122.9 defensive rating that his squad's posted, but he's evidently been patching holes for nearly four straight weeks since the season commenced.

Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Sarr's Been Given Little to Work With

He couldn't have reached his gargantuan block numbers without a little bit of cleaning up other players' messes, having posted an average of 2.3 swats per night while racking up at least three of them in an individual game six different times across a dozen matchups.

Sarr's work is certainly cut out for him, as he wasn't left with many difference-makers to join him on defense. Bilal Coulibaly is the Wizards' most promising defender from an athletic standpoint, but his frequent injury-related absences have forced the talented Kyshawn George into a point-of-attack role that's put him in regular foul trouble. And outside of those wings, Sarr's constantly having to watch his back to make sure that one of his veterans or defensively-flimsy prospects haven't blown their assignments and allowed an incursion into Sarr's paint.

The sophomore center has been the Wizards' clear MVP through the season's first month, and not just for his ability to get his scoring done regardless of the matchup. No players is facing anything close to his defensive burden, and he's answering the call to turn in one of the fall's premier defensive performances.

This article first appeared on Washington Wizards on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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