Just an hour before they take the court for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren received another honor.
Both were named to the First Team NBA All-Defense.
Wembanyama was the only player to be unanimously named to the first team, which is not exactly a shock, he was the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. Holmgren was the runner-up for the award (and it’s the same group of 100 media voters), and he had 93 First Team votes.
Here is how the NBA’s All-Defensive Teams shook out.
NBA All-Defensive Team
First Team
Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
Ausar Thompson (Pistons)
Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves)
Derrick White (Celtics)
Second Team
Bam Adebayo (Heat)
OG Anunoby (Knicks)
Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
Cason Wallace (Thunder)
Dyson Daniels (Hawks)
A few thoughts on these teams.
• Two players just missed out on making the second team: Stephon Castle (Spurs) and Amen Thompson (Rockets). Castle and Thompson had the same number of total votes as Daniels (41), but the Hawks’ wing had more first-team votes, so he finished with five more points in the NBA system.
• The next two players with at least 24 votes are Draymond Green (Warriors) and Toumani Camara (Trail Blazers)
• Adebayo didn’t just make an All-Defensive Team, he was named the 2025-26 NBA Social Justice Champion and will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy.
• Don’t be too shocked to see Boston’s White on First Team, he was one of two players with 80+ steals and 80+ blocks (Scottie Barnes was the other), and the first Celtic to get to 75+ of each of those since Kevin Garnett in 2008 (the year he won DPOY).
• This is Gobert’s eighth First Team All-Defense nod (he’s won four Defensive Player of the Year awards)