Marcus Smart, Mikal Bridges Top NBA All-Defensive First Team
May 21, 2022, 2:25 PM
Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz compete for the ball during the first quarter of the game at TD Garden on March 23, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
(Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP) — Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics was the leading vote-getter for the All-Defensive first team, with Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns joining him as the other guard.
Yet another reminder that Rudy Gobert is a lock for the HOF.
– 3x DPOY
– 6x All-defense 1st team
– 4x All-NBA (maybe 5)
– 3x All-Star
– Olympic Silver with France
– NBA block leader
– NBA rebound leader
– All-Time leader in TS% and eFG%
– 2nd All-Time in FG% pic.twitter.com/vkGPRJmsuN— Calvin Chappell (@CHALVIN2018) May 21, 2022
Former Defensive Players of the Year Rudy Gobert of Utah and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee were also voted Friday to the first team along with Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
Smart received 99 first-place votes and 198 points from the panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Bridges, the runner-up to Smart for the league’s top defensive award, got 95 first-team votes and two second-team votes for a total of 193 points.
