The NBA announced its All-Defensive Teams today, led by the 2019-20 Kia Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Milwaukee Bucks forward earned 195 total points from a global panel of a hundred sportswriters and broadcasters, receiving 97 votes onto the NBA All-Defensive First Team. The Greek Freak secured his third All-Defensive Team nod overall, after being named to the Second Team in 2016-17 and the First Team last season.
Joining Antetokounmpo in the NBA All-Defensive First Team are Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers (187 points off 87 First Team votes), Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers (185 points off 88 First Team votes), Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (180 points off 85 First Team votes), and Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics (152 points off 57 First Team votes).
Davis, who finished second in the Defensive Player of Year Award this season, secured his fourth All-Defensive Team selection, equally split between the First and Second Team. A former two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert has been named to four straight First Team selections, while Smart has been named in the First Team for back-to-back seasons. Simmons makes his All-Defensive Team debut this season.
As for the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive Second Team, it is composed of Kawhi Leonard (128 points), Brook Lopez (67 points), Bam Adebayo (61 points), Patrick Beverley (60 points), and Eric Bledsoe (59 points).
This is Leonard's sixth All-Defensive Team selection, while this is the third for his teammate Beverley. Bledsoe was selected for the second time in his career, with Adebayo and Lopez joining Simmons as first-time awardees.
The Milwaukee Bucks' trio of Antetokounmpo, Lopez, and Bledsoe makes it the first time that a team has at least three players in the NBA All-Defensive Team since the 2012-13 season, where the trio of Tony Allen, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzles received such a nod.
Selection for the All-Defensive Team is based on the games played before the season was paused last March 11, with voters making the picks for two guards, two forwards, and a center for both teams. Said voters had to pick players at the position that they play regularly in, although players who received votes at multiple positions are slotted at the position they received the most votes in. A vote in the First Team is worth two points, while a vote in the Second Team is worth a point.
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