Spurs' Victor Wembanyama makes history as first rookie in All-Defensive First Team

Posted by enzo2go May 24, 2024

Victor Wembanyama just completed something no other NBA player has ever completed before.

On Tuesday, the tall San Antonio Spurs big man became the primary rookie in league history to be named to the All-Defensive First Team.

Wembanyama joined the primary team, center Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, big Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, guard/forward Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans and massive Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The second team consists of Alex Caruso (Guard) of the Chicago Bulls, Jalen Suggs (Guard) of the Orlando Magic, Derrick White (Guard) of the Boston Celtics, Jaden McDaniels (Forward) of the Timberwolves and Jrue Holiday (Guard) of the Celtics.

Gobert led in votes, receiving all 99 votes from the panel of writers and commentators who forged their ballots. Gobert's unanimous selection to the primary team comes as no surprise. Minnesota, where Gobert protects the basket and receives outstanding performances from McDaniels and Anthony Edwards on the perimeter, finished the regular season as the perfect defense within the leaguelimiting opponents to 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Gobert ranked fourth in defensive rebounds per game (9.2) and sixth in blocks per game (2.13).

Two weeks ago, Gobert received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time – a brand new record.

Wembanyama was voted to the primary team on 86 of the ballots and to the second team on 12 ballots. Although his Spurs finished the season with the Twenty first-best defense within the league, he has already earned a status amongst his peers as a standout defender. In the 2024 Anonymous Player Poll, Wembanyama received essentially the most votes when players were asked to call the perfect defender within the league, being named on 15.2 percent of the ballots. Wembanyama led the league in blocks (3.58 per game) and collected 27.3 percent of all available defensive rebounds.

Adebayo has been the cornerstone of the Heat's fifth-best defense. Regularly praised for his ability to regulate to opposing defenders – no small feat for a stocky 6-foot-1 player – Adebayo offers the flexibility and determination the Heat are known for.

Jones was chosen to the All-Defensive team for the primary time. Tall and lean, 6-foot-4, Jones was a key contributor to the Pelicans' defense, which ranked sixth in defensive efficiency.

Davis ended the season Third within the league in defensive rebounds per game (9.5) And Fourth in blocks per game (2.34).

This was the primary season wherein the league used “positionless” voting for its All-Defensive and All-NBA teams, and first-season players (most often) needed to play no less than 65 games to be considered for an All-Defensive team.

In previous years, voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for every of the 2 All-Defensive teams and every of the three All-NBA teams. But that is not any longer the case. Because of the collective bargaining agreement ratified last yr, voters this yr were instructed to decide on the players most deserving of the award, no matter position.

The All-NBA teams might be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

The NBA named its first All-Defensive teams after the 1968-69 season. Before that yr only five rookies have ever been named to an All-Defensive Team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70 season), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-85), Manute Bol (1984-85), David Robinson (1989-90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98). But Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon, Bol, Robinson and Duncan were chosen to the All-Defensive second team as rookies, not the All-Defensive first team.

What is an important finding?

To be sure that essentially the most deserving players receive recognition, league officials and the players' union moved to a position-free vote.

This yr, Abebayo and Davis benefited from this modification.

Although Adebayo has been considered an elite defender in league circles for several years, he had been on the second team All-Defensive for the previous 4 seasons, often ending behind players like Gobert, Draymond Green, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brook Lopez and Evan Mobley.

This yr, Adebayo made his well-deserved breakthrough into the primary team for the primary time in his profession.

Questions remain in regards to the long-term impact of the move to positionless voting: How should voters judge perimeter defense versus big-man defense? Will big-man defense now dominate All-Defensive First Team voting in most years, and would that be a positive or negative?

Caruso almost definitely would have made the All-Defensive First Team this yr if the league had kept the position-based voting system.

What was the most important surprise?

It's a pleasing surprise that the Timberwolves and Celtics, the 2 teams that allowed essentially the most points per possession, each had two players on the All-Defensive teams. Minnesota had Gobert and McDaniels, while Boston had White and Holiday.

Who was most snubbed?

An example of that is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who finished the regular season with the fourth-best defensive rating within the league and entered the playoffs as the highest seed within the Western Conference, but had no players on their first or second team.

Winger Luguentz Dort narrowly missed being named to the second team. He earned a complete of 34 points in voting, the Eleventh-highest rating. Holiday, the last player to be voted to the second team, earned a complete of 36 points. Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City's rookie center who finished fifth in blocks per game, had the Thirteenth-highest variety of votes.

Required reading



image credit : www.nytimes.com

Tags: