Who made the NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams?
Rudy Gobert made his sixth straight NBA All-Defensive First Team, while Giannis Antetokounmpo made his fourth straight.
The NBA All-Defensive teams were released on Friday, headlined by Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) Marcus Smart and reigning NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the First Team.
Joining that pair on the First Team is Phoenix Suns wing and DPOY runner-up Mikal Bridges, the Utah Jazz’s three-time DPOY-winning center Rudy Gobert, and the Memphis Grizzlies’ league-leading shot-blocker Jaren Jackson Jr.
It is Gobert’s sixth consecutive First Team appearance, and Antetokounmpo’s fourth consecutive, while also having one Second Team selection in 2017.
Marcus Smart now has three First Team selections after making it in 2019 and 2020, and it was the first of what will likely be numerous defensive honours for both Bridges, aged 25, and Jackson, 22.
The NBA All-Rookie teams were announced on Wednesday.
Draymond Green lands seventh All-Defensive nod
The Second Team is made up of Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, Boston Celtics big-man Robert Williams III, Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and Philadelphia 76ers defensive specialist Matisse Thybulle.
It is Green’s seventh All-Defensive honour since 2015, with four First Teams (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021) and now three Second Teams (2018, 2019 and now 2022).
For Holiday, it is his fourth All-Defensive selection overall, with First Teams in 2018 and 2021, and another Second Team in 2019.
Adebayo has now made the Second Team for three consecutive years, and is yet to break into the First Team, while Thybulle made his second straight Second Team, and it was Williams’ first award after being drafted in 2018, 23 selections after Memphis’ Jackson.