Although Draymond Green didn’t win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, the Golden State Warriors forward will still earn some hardware for his defensive effort from the 2020-21 season.
On Monday, the league named Green to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team. The Michigan State product joined Utah’s Rudy Gobert, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday for the 2020-21 edition of the All-Defensive First Team.
Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Kawhi Leonard, Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, along with Philadelphia’s Matisse Thybulle and Joel Embiid have been named to the league’s All-Defensive second team.
Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:
2020-21 NBA All-Defensive teams:
First team: Rudy Gobert, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday
Second team: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Joel Embiid, Matisse Thybulle, Kawhi Leonard
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 14, 2021
Via @warriors on Twitter:
🔒 Fourth career All-Defensive First Team selection
🔒 Sixth total All-Defensive team selection, the most ever by a Golden State Warrior@Money23Green is a defensive savant. pic.twitter.com/RJTBrew5iC
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 14, 2021
Green received 80 first-team votes, the third-highest mark on the All-Defensive First Team, trailing only Gobert and Simmons.
Via @NBAPR on Twitter:
Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons both received NBA All-Defensive First Team votes on all 100 ballots.
The full voting results for the 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive Team are below.
More ➡️ https://t.co/5T2zOsxqhm pic.twitter.com/LHtsGVXcUh
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) June 14, 2021
During the 2020-21 campaign, Green helped captain Golden State’s defense to a top-five defensive rating (109.4). Over the season, the 31-year-old averaged 1.7 steals (his highest mark since 2017) and 0.8 blocks per contest on the defensive end.
Over his career, Green has been named to the league’s All-Defensive team six different times, including four first-team nods. Green also earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2017. The former second-round pick finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in the 2020-21 season.
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