Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton did not make either of the NBA All-Defensive teams, the NBA announced on Tuesday. Claxton, 24, received 0 first-team votes (2 points each), but did received 25 second-team votes (1 point each) which placed him in the “other players receiving votes: centers” category within the voting.
Claxton is in the category as 2022-23 league MVP Joel Embiid, Jarrett Allen, and Walker Kessler. Claxton, the 31st overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, received the third-most votes, or total points, and the centers who received more total points were: Bam Adebayo (second-team) and Brook Lopez (first-team).
Some Nets fans are disappointed about Claxton not making either of the teams given that he was touted as a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year by most around the NBA. Not only did Claxton finish second in the league in blocks per game (2.5), he also finished fourth in defensive win shares (4.0), seventh in defensive box plus/minus (2.2), and sixth in defensive rating (108.3).
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