Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo highlighted the NBA All-Defensive teams which were announced on Friday night.
Smart, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, earned his third first-team nod. He was joined at the guard spot by Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns, who earned his first career All-Defensive team nod. The top two vote-getters were Smart and Bridges.
Antetokounmpo was named to the All-Defensive team for the fifth time. The only other players with four first-team selections and multipleMVPs are Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Bridges earned his first selection and was joined at the forward spot by Antetokounmpo.
Gobert had won three of the last four Defensive Player of the Year awards. It's the first time in history that a center has been on the first-team for more than one year.
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | Total points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Smart | 99 | 0 | 198 |
| Mikal Bridges | 95 | 3 | 193 |
| Rudy Gobert | 76 | 19 | 171 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 63 | 30 | 156 |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | 55 | 43 | 153 |
| Bam Adebayo | 57 | 38 | 152 |
| Jrue Holiday | 24 | 41 | 89 |
| Matisse Thybulle | 8 | 71 | 87 |
| Robert Williams III | 3 | 64 | 70 |
| Draymond Green | 5 | 24 | 34 |
The second team included Milwaukee's Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia's Matisse Thybulle, Miami's Bam Adebayo, Golden State's Draymond Green, and Boston's Robert Williams III.
It is the first time in four years that Boston has had multiple players on the All-Defensive Team.
The Celtics had six players vote, and three of them got a first-team vote. White, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the San Antonio Spurs, received three second-team votes.
Holiday earned a $120,000 bonus for his fourth selection.
Green played in just 46 games after being selected for the seventh time. Only two players made the All-Defensive team playing fewer games: Scottie Pippen and Andrei Kirilenko.
Adebayo made his third career All-Defensive team, while Williams and Thybulle made their first.
The fifth and sixth place votes went to rookies Evan Mobley of Cleveland andHerb Jones of New Orleans. They were the first rookies to not make the All-Defensive team since Tim Duncan in 1997-98.
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