The NBA has officially announced the voting results for its two 2020/21 All-Defensive teams.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four seasons, and Sixers guard Ben Simmons were unanimous selections for the All-Defensive First Team. Both players made the First Team lists of all 100 tallied ballots, for a perfect total of 200 points. Votes are given to 100 media members.
This marks Gobert’s fifth straight appearance on the All-Defensive First Team, and the second consecutive All-Defensive First Team honor for Simmons.
Warriors forward Draymond Green garnered 176 points (including 80 First Team votes). Green was named Defensive Player of the Year in the 2016/17 season. This year’s nod is his fourth First Team honor, and his sixth total All-Defensive team.
Two Bucks players rounded out the All-Defensive First Team this season. Guard Jrue Holiday netted 157 points (65 First Team) and All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, earned 135 total points (43 First Team). Antetokounmpo has just made his third straight All-Defensive First Team, and his fourth All-Defensive team overall. This is Holiday’s second All-Defensive First Team appearance and his third overall All-Defensive team.
[RELATED: Rudy Gobert Named Defensive Player Of The Year]
Two All-Defensive First-Teamers have unlocked contract bonuses associated with the honor. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that Gobert will receive a $500K bonus for the inclusion this season. Marks adds (Twitter link) that Holiday will pocket a cool $100K for making All-Defensive First Team. Holiday has other contract incentives associated with his team’s further postseason advancement.
The All-Defensive Second Team honorees are led by Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, who each netted 111 points (37 First Team votes) apiece. Adebayo makes his second All-Defensive Second Team with the nod today. This is Butler’s fifth such honor.
Simmons’s Sixers teammates Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle also make the cut. It is the third All-Defensive team nod for Embiid and the first appearance for Thybulle. Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, a former two-time Defensive Player of the Year, rounds out the All-Defensive Second Team this season.
Here are the full voting results for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, with each player’s point total noted in parentheses:
First Team:
- Ben Simmons, G, Sixers (200)
- Rudy Gobert, C, Jazz (200)
- Draymond Green, F, Warriors (176)
- Jrue Holiday, G, Bucks (157)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Bucks (135)
Second Team:
- Bam Adebayo, F, Heat (111)
- Jimmy Butler, G, Heat (111)
- Joel Embiid, C, Sixers (87)
- Matisse Thybulle, G, Sixers (63)
- Kawhi Leonard, F, Clippers (43)
Suns guard/forward Mikal Bridges, Hawks center Clint Capela, and Pacers forward/center Myles Turner were among the highest vote-getters who missed the cut for the Second Team. You can find the full voting results right here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Looks like a lot of voters filled out their ballots by cutting and pasting ballots from prior years. Some exceptions.
Butler and Adebayo get some accolades even though I feel Adebayo should’ve been one up on the First Team.
Bridges got robbed.
Draymond was simply unreal almost all season long – shooting NOT included lol.
But no one guards the biggest centers and smallest guards and every elite player in between, like Draymond Green – his defense is elite in the playoffs too, unlike Rudy’s.
Draymond is an excellent team defender. Just like Rudy, Green isn’t shutting down any guard with a decent handle.
Horrible assessment. Watch some Warriors games and you’d have a different opinion.
PJ Tucker is practically as good on defense as Draymond is.
Not even close.
That’s undeniably false. Watch more basketball.
Young player defenders – rookie contracts
DiVincenzo
Hunter
T Mann
M Bridges
Jalen Brunson
I notice one thing on that list.
All from Villanova
Well, 3 of them at least. That’s why I say that you can’t go wrong drafting these Nova boys. Jay Wright does an amazing job teaching them how to play TEAM basketball. Those 3 mentioned, Josh Hart, Sadiq Bey, Paschall. All of them give 110% all the time and almost everytime make the smart basketball play.
So much for the Sixers coasting past Atlanta without Danny Green.
Anyone who actually thought Green going out would help the Sixers doesn’t know basketball. He isn’t the guy he was a few years ago and he would be the first to admit it. But he is still levels above Korkmaz and Milton, and we had way too much of them tonight. Our biggest problem is depth and with Green out that’ll be exposed. It’s why I don’t see Harris or Simmons here for the long term. With their and Embiid s contracts on the books we don’t have any $$ to really build out the team.
Wow didn’t realize Kawhi played enough to be considered. Had to have his rest.
Kawhi and Butler both played 52 games, compared to 51 for Embiid.
Should Embiid have not been considered after missing 21 games?
Dort was snubbed. Who votes on these awards?
I still feel like the analytics guys are a ways away from developing metrics that tell us who the best individual defenders really are. Not sure it’s possible given how NBA defense has become so dependent on the switch of the PnR and help side rotations.
It almost seems like a lack of poor defenders is more important today than having a “lock down” perimeter defender if you’re really trying build a great defensive team. The days of Jordan or Kobe shutting down the opposing shooting guard are long gone.
I have always supported Simmons but he looked awful tonight, like he just didn’t care, and the series is tied. He has rarely looked in form of late actually. He must hate HC Rivers.
Not new news to some…
Thybulle the new Simmons? I like that backcourt with Milton, Maxey, Curry, Green, Korkmaz, Hill, Thy. Plus: Tobias, Embiid, Reed.
Heck trade Simmons for Horford and Deck, Dort and Dare. Just kidding, for ShaiGA.
Ben would tear it up in Westy’s place.
Embiid was failing in energy, but John Collins looked so intimidated by him, it did not matter.
Whatever, give JE & BS their awards.
I’ll give Simmons credit for stepping it up on defense.
But I don’t think I can remember a #1 pick who’s been given more slack over the first five years of his career. This guy has basically regressed offensively to the point where you’re right—he’s basically Thybulle. Three years ago people were, rightfully, talking about him being another iteration of LeBron.
Actually, he might be worse than Thybulle in the playoffs. He’s shooting under 40% from the line, so even the one thing that hasn’t regressed—his athleticism and ball handling—is being mitigated because he has to avoid contact because he’s become Shaquille O’Neal at the line.
Good point there, and FT shooting is not normally something that can be attributed to dissatisfaction or the HC… things would have to be pretty bad.
Morey is accustomed to putting it all on the PG… gotta trade.
What about the players that comprise the
2021 First and Second Team
All DEFENSELESS TEAM ???
Well if the Sixers lose this series, they won’t have 3 guys on this list next year BC Ben Simmons will be traded. You can get Thybulle to the point of being a double-double glue guy and I’d ship Ben out for Dame or Beal along with 3 or 4 picks. Harris is solid, but if Embiid is lagging, we have no one else.
How is ThyBulle going to average a double-double?
I never said average. Simmons doesn’t but he does get a lot of double doubles 10 points 10 boards. If you ship out Simmons for someone like Dame/Beal, Thybulle would be thrust into a starting role as your 3-D. Ideally looking to get Otto Porter like production pre-27M/yr deal.
Thybulle averages 1.9 boards and 1.0 assists in 20 minutes a game. He is about as far from a double-double threat as anyone could think of.
Yea I love Thybulle but he isn’t a double double threat. He is a 2.5 and d guy until his 3 pt shooting gets more consistent. But his defense more than makes up for it.
I’m not talking what he is, I’m talking about what they can turn him into. Something along the lines of a PJ Tucker Phoenix years. Double digit games per year grabbing 10+ boards. You remove a rebounder like Ben, you need to have it picked up somewhere else, Thybulle would be the most likely to fill some of that role. At the end of the day you’re looking for a stat line of 10 points, 6.5 boards, 1.6 steals.
I’m still not ready to give up on Ben. He needs to start shooting with the correct hand and he is still only 24.
Kawhi? Dude doesn’t care about D during regular season. Thats just ignorant voting
Simmons can’t shoot jump shots or make half his free throws, he’s a total liability near the end of games. Please trade him.