Victor Wembanyama just accomplished something no other NBA player has ever accomplished.
The towering San Antonio Spurs big man became the first rookie in league history to be named to the All-Defensive First Team on Tuesday.
Wembunama joins Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo, New Orleans Pelicans guard/forward Herb Jones and Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Day Weiss joins the first team.
Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso, Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, Boston Celtics guard Derrick White, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Celtics Yankees guard Jrue Holiday was named to the second team.
Gobert led the voting, receiving all 99 first-team votes from the panel of writers and broadcasters who submitted their ballots. Gobert’s unanimous first-team selection was no surprise. With Gobert protecting the rim and great outside contributions from McDaniels and Anthony Edwards, Minnesota ended the regular season with the league’s top defense, limiting opponents to 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Gobert ranks fourth in defensive rebounds per game (9.2) and sixth in blocks per game (2.13).
2023-24 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team:
▪️ Bam Adebayo @miamiheat
▪️Anthony Davis @lakers
▪️Rudy Gobert @ graywolvesteam
▪️ Herb Jones @pelicanNBA
▪️ Victor Wembanyama’s @The spurs pic.twitter.com/Ye6oB0T5VV— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2024
Two weeks ago, Gobert won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for a record fourth time.
Wembanyama was named to the first team with 86 votes and to the second team with 12 votes. Although his Spurs team ranked 21st in the league in defense at the end of the season, he has earned a reputation among his peers as an outstanding defender. exist CompetitorIn the 2024 Anonymous Players Poll, when players were asked to choose the league’s best defender, Wembanyama received the highest number of votes, receiving 15.2% of the vote. Wembunyama leads the league in blocks (3.58 per game) and grabs 27.3% of all available defensive rebounds.
Adebayo is the cornerstone of the Heat’s fifth defense. Often praised for his ability to switch defenders — no small feat for a muscular 6-foot-9 big man — Adebayo provides the versatility the Heat are known for. and perseverance.
Jones was named to the All-Defensive team for the first time. Jones, a tall and slender 6-foot-7 player, is a key contributor to a Pelicans defense that ranks sixth in defensive efficiency.
Davis ranks third in the league in defensive rebounds per game this season (9.5) and fourth in blocks per game (2.34).
2023-24 Kia NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
▪️ Alex Caruso @Chicago Bulls
▪️Julu Holidays @celtics
▪️Jaden McDaniels @ graywolvesteam
▪️ Jaylen Suggs @Orlando Magic
▪️ Derrick White @celtics pic.twitter.com/IdaekqTeHs— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2024
This marks the first time the league has used “positionless” voting to select All-Defensive Teams and All-NBA Teams, with players in their first season having to play at least 65 games (in most cases) to be eligible for All-Defensive selection. line-up.
In previous years, voters selected two guards, two forwards and a center for each of the two All-Defensive teams and three All-NBA teams. But not anymore. Thanks to the collective bargaining agreement approved last year, voters are being asked this year to select the most deserving players regardless of their position.
All-NBA teams will be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
After the 1968-69 season, the NBA selected its All-Defensive Team for the first time. Before this year, only five rookies were selected to the All-Defensive team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70 season), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-85 season), Manute Bol (1984-85 season), David Robinson (1989-85 season 90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98). But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon, Bol, Robinson and Duncan were selected to the All-Defensive Second Team as rookies, not the All-Defensive First Team.
What’s the biggest gain?
League officials and the players union turned to position-less voting to ensure the most deserving players were recognized.
This year, Abebayo and Davis benefited from the change.
Although Adebayo has been considered an elite defender in the league for years, he has been named to the All-Defensive Second Team each of the past four seasons, often lagging behind fellow big men Gobert, Draymond Green, Jalen et al.
This year, Adebayor finally broke into the first team for the first time in his career, and he deserves it.
Questions remain about the long-term impact of positionless voting: How should voters judge the defense of perimeter players versus the defense of big men? Now, do big men dominate defensive first-team voting most years?
If the league retained its position-based voting system, Caruso would almost certainly be on the All-Defensive first team this year.
What’s the biggest surprise?
Surprisingly, the two teams that allowed the most points per possession, the Timberwolves and Celtics, each had two players on the All-Defensive team. Minnesota has Gobert and McDaniels, and Boston has White and Holiday.
Who received the biggest snub?
The best example of this is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished the regular season with the fourth-best defensive rating in the league and entered the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference, but failed to finish first team or There are no players on the second team.
Wing Lugenz Dort narrowly missed out on the second team. He received 34 points in the voting, ranking 11th. Holiday, who was ultimately selected to the second team, scored a total of 36 points. Oklahoma City rookie center Chet Holmgren ranks fifth in blocks per game and 13th in total votes.
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(Victor Wembanyama and PJ Washington Photos: Jerome Miron/USA Today)
