The Cleveland Cavaliers Evan Mobley, the recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award this season, was also the top vote-getter for the NBA’s All-Defensive team that was revealed on Thursday.
Mobley received 99 first team votes from a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots to determine award winners. He was a second team pick on the lone other ballot.
Atlanta Hawks Dyson Daniels, Oklahoma City Thunders Luguentz Dort, Golden State Warriors Draymond Green and Houston Rockets Amen Thompson rounded out the first team. Daniels joined Mobley as the only players to appear on all 100 ballots; Daniels got 91 first-team nods and nine second-team votes.
Dort appeared on 99 ballots, Green, now a five-time first-team selection and a nine-time All-Defensive pick overall in his career, made it on 98 ballots and Thompson, who is turning into a star in only his second year in the NBA, was on 97 ballots.
The second team was Portland Trailblazers Toumani Camara, Minnesota Timberwolves Rudy Gobert, who is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Memphis Grizzlies Jaren Jackson Jr., Oklahoma City Thunders Jalen Williams and the Los Angeles Clippers Ivica Zubac.
The ‘Stifle Tower’, Gobert is now an eight-time All-Defensive team selection.
Ballots were cast ahead of the beginning of the playoffs last month. The final awards to be handed out by the league to recognize excellence in this regular season will come Friday, when the All-NBA teams are announced.
The other awards that were part of that voting process and have already been unveiled: Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning MVP, Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson winning coach of the year, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels winning most improved player, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle winning rookie of the year, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley winning defensive player of the year, New York’s Jalen Brunson winning clutch player of the year and Boston’s Payton Pritchard winning sixth man of the year.
Other awards announced by the league since the regular season wrapped up: Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award, Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award, Oklahoma City’s GM Sam Presti won executive of the year and Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career as well as the league’s social justice
award.
