A group of head coaches and assistant coaches anonymously voted for the NBA All-Defensive teams. It’s been a couple of years since coaches stopped voting for these teams, but The Athletic conducted a poll to know who coaches think are the best defensive players in the league this campaign.
Which players should make the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive teams? Who should be the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year? No one evaluates NBA defenses more than NBA coaches, so @TheAthletic asked coaches for their choices in an anonymous poll. https://t.co/mhLHeyFGoI
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) July 1, 2020
The First Team is composed of the likes of Marcus Smart, Ben Simmons, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.
The second team features some surprising names. Coaches voted for Patrick Beverley, Eric Bledsoe, PJ Tucker, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis.
One of the biggest questions this season was who was going to win the DPOY award. Some said Anthony Davis had a better case than Rudy Gobert and any other player in the league, but according to coaches, he’s not even a First-Team player.
33 head coaches and assistants coaches voted for the two All-Defensive Teams and they gave a sneak peek of what could happen once the season is over. Coaches haven’t voted for the official All-Defensive teams since the 2012-13 season.
AD might still have a big case to win the award, even if he doesn’t make the All-Defensive First Team this campaign. We recently know four players that didn’t make that team and still won the prize. This is the NBA and anything can happen.
