NBA All-Defensive Teams: Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama headline list as Celtics, Timberwolves get two apiece

Like most awards, the NBA made some tweaks to the All-Defense structure this season. First, the NBA’s new 65-game minimum for most awards does apply to All-Defense, so every player chosen must have participated in at least 65 games (or meet the league’s specific exception criteria). Second, and perhaps most notably, positional requirements were thrown out this season. In the past, two guards, two forwards and a center were chosen for each team. This season, voters were free to choose any 10 players they wished. With that in mind, here are this season’s All-Defense first-team selections:

And here is the second-team selections:

Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert leads the way here having earned his seventh selection. That puts him in a tie with Kawhi Leonard for the third most among active players, trailing Draymond Green (eight) and Chris Paul (nine). On the other end of the experience spectrum was Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Victor Wembanyama, who just became the first rookie in NBA history to make the All-Defensive first team. He appeared on 86 first-team ballots and 12 second-team ballots. Another Spurs great, Tim Duncan, made the second team as a rookie in the 1997-98 campaign. 

Thunder’s Luguentz Dort just missed a second-team selection — by a mere two points — while his teammate Chet Holmgren, another rookie, finished 13th overall in the voting. Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard was 12th place in the voting, while Cavaliers‘ Jarrett Allen, Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nuggets‘ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were all in the mix.

Here’s a breakdown of the complete voting results, announced by the NBA.