Two Milwaukee Bucks — guard Jrue Holiday and center Brook Lopez — are among the members of the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team announced Tuesday.
Holiday and Lopez join forward Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies, guard Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls and forward Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jackson, 23, was the leading vote-getter with 96 first-team votes. It is his second selection to the first team.
Jackson already received the league’s top individual defensive award when he was named the Defensive Player of the Year in April. Jackson’s average of 3.0 blocks per game led the league. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in 63 starts.
Holiday, 32, was not far behind with 94 first-team votes after a season in which he averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals. This is the guard’s third time being named to the first team and his fifth time overall.
Lopez — runner-up to Jackson for Defensive POY — enjoyed his first time making it onto the first team after having been named to the second team once before in his career.
Among the five first-team players, Mobley, 21, finished fourth in voting with 132 points (49 first-team votes, 34 second-team votes). He is the first Cavs player to earn a spot on an All-Defensive Team since LeBron James earned the honor in 2010.
Caruso earned All-Defensive honors for the first time in his six-year career. This season he played in a career-high 67 games and finished with 5.2 deflections per 36 minutes.
Five players were also named to the second team.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White, who blocked 76 shots in the regular season, led second-team voting in his first time being named to the team.
Also named for the first time were forward O.G. Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors and Memphis guard/forward Dillon Brooks.
“I feel like we enable each other on that defensive end,” Brooks, 27, said of Jackson after the season.
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green rounded out the second-team roster. This is Green’s eighth time receiving the honor, with four nominations for each team.
–Field Level Media
