Anthony Davis, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert Headline 2023-24 NBA All-Defensive Team

San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama has added an All-Defensive team selection to his list of accolades from the 2023-24 NBA season.

Wembanyama, Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis and reigning Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert headline the All-Defensive team list unveiled on Tuesday.

2023-24 NBA All-Defensive First Team

• Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs
• Anthony Davis, C, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rudy Gobert, C, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Herb Jones, F, New Orleans Pelicans
• Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat

2023-24 NBA All-Defensive Second Team

• Alex Caruso, G, Chicago Bulls
• Jrue Holiday, G, Boston Celtics
• Jalen Suggs, G, Orlando Magic
• Derrick White, G, Boston Celtics
• Jaden McDaniels, F, Minnesota Timberwolves

Gobert was a unanimous first-team selection with 99 votes, while Wembanyama was named on 98 of 99 total ballots. Anthony Davis received the fewest first-place votes (60) and total points (151) of the five first-team players.

This season marked the first year the All-Defensive team wasn’t subject to positional requirements, allowing centers to take four of the five spots on the first team.

Interestingly, the only non-guard to make the second team was Jaden McDaniels of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Alex Caruso was the only second-team selection who received more than 100 total points.

Wembanyama, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, earned his spot on the first team by leading the league in total blocks (254) and blocks per game (3.6). He had the second-best defensive rating (105.8).

San Antonio had a bottom-10 defense overall, but the unit was almost three full points better by rating with Wembanyama on the court (116.7) than when he was off the floor (119.6).

Wembanyama is the sixth rookie in NBA history to earn All-Defensive team honors. The previous five are Tim Duncan (1997-98), David Robinson (1989-90), Manute Bol (1985-86), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984-85) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-70).

Gobert is back on the All-Defensive team after missing out entirely last season. His seven first-team selections are tied with Chris Paul for the eighth-most in NBA history. The record of nine is held by four different players, including Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

The T-Wolves center’s 104.4 defensive rating was easily the best in the NBA this season.

This is Davis’ fifth career All-Defensive team selection and third appearance on the first team. He most recently made it during the 2019-20 season when the Lakers won the NBA championship.

Davis was the anchor in the middle for the Lakers, tying his most blocks per game (2.3) and total steals (91) since joining the club in 2019-20. His 178 total blocks were the most since 2017-18 when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans (193).