| National Basketball Association awards and honors | ||
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| Championship | ||
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| Individual awards | ||
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| • J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award | ||
| Honors | ||
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| • All-Rookie Team | ||
The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches; the coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.[1][2] The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of two five-man lineups, a first and a second team, comprising a total of 10 roster spots. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded. If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties. Ties have occurred several times, most recently in 2006 when Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd tied in votes received. No respect is given to positions. For example, the second team had three forwards, one center, and one guard in 2006.[1]
Tim Duncan holds the record for the most total selections with 13 and was selected successively since his rookie year in 1998.[3] Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant follow with eleven total honors each. Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant share the record for most NBA All-Defensive first team selections with nine. Pippen, Bobby Jones, and Duncan made the first team eight times each. Walt Frazier and Dennis Rodman made the All-Defensive first team seven times.[3]
Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, Patrick Ewing of Jamaica, Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, Anderson Varejão of Brazil, Thabo Sefolosha of Switzerland, and Tim Duncan and Raja Bell of the U.S. Virgin Islands are members of the NBA All-Defensive Team not born in the United States. Duncan and Bell are American citizens, but are still considered international players by the NBA because they were not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C.[4]
Contents |
| ^ | Denotes players who are still active in the NBA |
| * | Denotes players inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been selected |
| Player (in bold text) |
Indicates the player who won the Defensive Player of the Year award in the same year[a] |
The following table only lists players with at least four First Team selections.
| * | Denotes players inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| ^ | Denotes players who are still active |
| # | Player | First Team | Second Team | Total | Defensive Player of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Garnett^ | 9 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 2 | Kobe Bryant^ | 9 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| 3 | Michael Jordan* | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 4 | Gary Payton | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 5 | Tim Duncan^ | 8 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| 6 | Scottie Pippen* | 8 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| 7 | Bobby Jones | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | Dennis Rodman* | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 9 | Walt Frazier* | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Dennis Johnson* | 6 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| 11 | Dave DeBusschere* | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| 13 | Hakeem Olajuwon* | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 14 | Michael Cooper | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 15 | Bruce Bowen | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 15 | John Havlicek* | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | Ben Wallace^ | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 18 | Jason Kidd^ | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| 19 | David Robinson* | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 20 | Jerry Sloan* | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 21 | Sidney Moncrief | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 22 | Maurice Cheeks | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Joe Dumars* | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Jerry West* | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 25 | Don Buse | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |