With individual awards all handed out, the league took the first week of May to announce its All-League honors, starting with All-Rookie teams on Monday and continuing with the All-Defensive squads on Tuesday.
The first-team is headlined by the three DPOY finalists, with Jaren Jackson Jr., Brook Lopez, and Evan Mobley making up the frontcourt, while Jrue Holiday and Alex Caruso took the backcourt spots.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team:
Alex Caruso, Chicago Bulls
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 9, 2023
The second-team features Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, Dillon Brooks, OG Anunoby, and Derrick White.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 9, 2023
The voting breakdown was pretty clean between the first and second teams, with White and Caruso being the closest race for first-team, but Caruso still getting the nod by a full 26 voting points — and, notably, there was not a single unanimous selection.
As far as the “others receiving votes,” last year’s DPOY Marcus Smart was the first left off the list among guards, falling 19 votes shy of Dillon Brooks for the final second-team guard spot. Giannis Antetokoumpo out-pointed Brooks and Adebayo, but was 21 points shy of OG Anunoby for the last forward spot, with Nic Claxton being the first off the list among centers.
There are some odd stray votes out there, but none of the selections themselves are particularly egregious. Giannis’ exclusion from either team is probably the biggest “snub” but given how they break things out positionally, it’s not a massive shock.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-all-defensive-teams-2022-23/
