Category: Basketball

CLEVELAND — For the second straight year, and the third time in his career, OG Anunoby was recognized as one of the premier defensive players in the NBA. 

The stalwart two-way wing was selected to the NBA’s all-defensive second team by a panel of 100 voters, it was announced Friday night. 

Anunoby has now made the second team three different times. Knicks coach Mike Brown and teammate Karl-Anthony Towns had said in recent weeks that Anunoby deserved to be a first-team selection. 

“His versatility is just off the charts and you can do a lot of things with your defense because of him,” Brown said. “In my opinion, he deserves first-team all-defense this year — and hopefully the powers that be will see it that way, too.”

That didn’t happen.

The first team selections were Rudy Gobert of the Timberwolves, Chet Holmgren of the Thunder, Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs, Derrick White of the Celtics and Ausar Thompson of the Pistons. Anunoby received 11 first-team votes. 

The Knicks are two wins away from their first NBA Finals’ appearance in 27 years, and head to Cleveland with a chance to bury the Cavaliers.

But Mike Brown is concerned about one thing, the officiating. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

“I don’t know what to do about the free-throw line. It was 22-6 in the second half,” the Knicks’ coach said after his team’s comfortable Game 2 victory. “We’ll go back and watch the film, and maybe we were fouling, but that’s a pretty big discrepancy when you’re talking about 22-to-6 in free throws.”

“Maybe we were fouling and they weren’t, I don’t know.”

Overall, the Cavaliers attempted 18 more free throws, 32 to 14, than the Knicks in Game 2. In the series opener, the Knicks did get to the line more, 32 to 23.

The Cavaliers, it should be noted, rank second of the 16 teams to qualify for the playoffs in terms of free throws attempted at 28.8. Only the Nuggets (30.2) got to the line more. 

Donovan Mitchell insisted he is healthy after Game 2, though his coach, Kenny Atkinson, felt he was “trying to work through it — probably some stiffness” in the first half of the Cavaliers’ loss. 

“But I asked him if he wanted to come out in the fourth quarter and he’s like, ‘I’m fine,’ so I think he’s fine,” Atkinson said.

Asked on Thursday about his health, Mitchell said: “I’m great. Great. Great.”

The Knicks have held the opposition under 100 points six times in the playoffs. Of the teams remaining, the Spurs have done that five times and the Cavaliers and Thunder twice apiece. 

According to the team, Knicks watch parties have raised more than $350,000 for Garden of Dreams, a charity for local youth in need. The Knicks will host another watch party at the Garden for Game 3 on Saturday night. Tickets are $10.

With about a month left until the 2026 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns are starting asses players they could be selecting with the 47th pick. The Suns had projected second-round pick and point guard Robert McCray V from Florida State, and Louisville Guard Ryan Conwell and St. John’s Forward Bryce Hopkins are projected to come in for workouts next week, according to Phoenix Suns insider John Gambadoro.

McCray , Conwell and Hopkins all played at least four years of college. McCray was All-ACC Third Team this past season, Conwell was Second Team All-ACC this past season and Hopkins was Second-Team All-Big East.

With limited draft assets after trading for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal back in 2023, Phoenix is limited with its draft assets and traded away the pick they had in the first round of the 2026 draft back at the 2025 trade deadline to deal Jusuf Nurkić to the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite the limited future draft picks and young players the Suns have, reports suggest that Phoenix could look to move into the first round. Phoenix traded into the first round last season and selected Khaman Maluach with the 10th overall pick after trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets last offseason.

Whether they stay at 47 or acquire another draft pick, Phoenix is doing their due-diligence on projected second rounders. The First Round of the NBA Draft is on Tuesday June 23rd with the Second Round on the 24th.

Things felt great coming into the game: the Spurs had their full roster available, they did what they needed to do in OKC by stealing a win, and they had appeared a healthy guard trio away from a big win. While they got their wish in that regard, outside of an insanely hot start in which they quickly got ahead 19-4, the Spurs’ offensive rhythm and bench production was nonexistent, and once they were behind by double digits early in the second half, they couldn’t do enough to make any kind of comeback attempt, losing Game 3 108-123 and handing homecourt advantage back to the Thunder.

Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with a steady but quiet 26 points while only grabbing 4 rebounds, and Devin Vassell quietly continued to be their most steady player in this series with 20 points on 50% shooting, including 3-6 form three. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 26 points on an inefficient 6-17 shooting but 12-12 from the line, and Jared McCain gave them 24 off the bench.

Observations

• The Spurs got two big announcements about an hour before tip-off: that Victor Wembanyama made the All-Defensive First Team, and more importantly, that De’Aaron Fox (ankle) and Dylan Harper (adductor) were cleared to play — in Fox’s case, for the first time this series. On the other side, the Thunder got two players on the All-Defensive Teams in Chet Holmgren (1st) and Cason Wallace (2nd), but Jalen Williams was ruled out after he left Game 2 having aggravated the same hamstring that kept him out of the first two rounds.
• The Spurs were red hot right out of the gate in front of their fired up home crowd, starting on a 10-0 run in the first two minutes. It was kicked off by Fox looking like himself and driving by Lu Dort for a lay-up, Wemby hitting a step-back three over nemesis Isaiah Hartenstein, and Devin Vassell hitting a transition three off a defensive rebound. It stretched to 15-0 after a Thunder timeout before a Hartenstein floater got them their first points. The Spurs just missed the record for a run to start the game in the play-by-play era, which is a 16-0 run.
• But of course, the instant Wemby (and Fox) sat, the Thunder went on a 15-5 run in no small part thanks to Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams (the other JWill) getting hot from three, and a 19-4 lead was quickly cut to five. Considering how good the Spurs bench has been all season, it’s bizarre how ineffective they’ve been in this series. Luke Kornet hasn’t been nearly as effective protecting the rim, and scoring has been inconsistent all around.
• The lead was gone after the Thunder opened the second quarter hitting three straight threes as part of an 11-0 run that spanned both quarters before the Spurs hit a couple to briefly get their offense going again. The Thunder went on another 9-0 after the Spurs had taken a 45-43 lead again while Wemby — who admittedly was cold in the quarter — sat, and then they went on a 6-0 run to take 58-51 halftime lead. After that 15-0 start, the Spurs only hit 11 shots the rest of the half, with little ball movement and seemingly no one willing to step up.
• The Spurs were still slow out of halftime with the Thunder stretching the lead to double digits. Then, Ajay Mitchell committed a flagrant foul on Castle as he drove to the hoop off a steal. Vassell came to his defense and shoved Mitchell, he pushed back, and both to receive technicals. Vassell (or “Vastle”, as the refs continue to call him) is usually pretty chill, so it was good to see someone step up and try to light a fire under the team after they had been so sluggish ever since that 19-4 start to the game.
• The turnovers were down some (15 on the night) with Castle no longer on ball-handling duties, so he only had one, but that also diminished his effectiveness on offense. He was just 1-8 from the field but at least seemed to be trying by driving and drawing free throws, where he was 11-14 from the line.
• Fox re-aggravated his ankle twice late in the third quarter before limping off and looking dejected on the bench, although he gave it another go in the fourth quarter. While he was the best of the three guards with 15 points and 6 assists on 7-14 shooting, Harper and Castle were very limited in their offensive contributions, with a combined 20 points on 3-15 shooting. Coming in, it seemed like a boost to have all three guards again, but instead no offense was being run: no pick and rolls, no set plays, seemingly just everyone taking turns playing iso-ball, with no one being effective.
• The Spurs remained between 8-15 points behind throughout most of the second half largely by getting to the line, but similar to the second half of game 2, they could never find enough offensive rhythm or get enough consecutive stops (or stop committing dumb fouls) to go on any kind of game-changing run.
• The Spurs are going to have to find some production from their bench if they want to get back in this series. The second unit was vastly outscored for the third game in a row, this time 76-23. While no one stepped up for the Spurs, the Thunder got a combed 57 points from Caruso, JWill and McCain. While none of the starters were great in this one (outside of maybe Vassell, Wemby was merely solid), it was the bench minutes where the Spurs ultimately got behind and couldn’t climb back out.

This isn't a sight you wanted to see if you're a Spurs fan: De'Aaron Fox hobbled to the bench in clear pain during the third quarter of Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The San Antonio All-Star was back in the lineup after missing the first two games of the Western Conference finals as he dealt with right ankle soreness. But he got his right leg rolled on by Lu Dort as the two battled for a loose ball, and Fox was forced to his hands and knees.

He remained in the backcourt with his team on offense until a stoppage after the ball came back the other way, and then went directly to the bench with a considerable limp.

Lu Dort dives to the ball and slightly hits De'Aaron Fox, who is limping, and heads to the bench briefly after (with replays) pic.twitter.com/RywVrEHJDC

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 23, 2026

In some good news for the Spurs, Fox did find his way back to the court during the fourth quarter.

Before Game 2, which Fox missed, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had referred to his early "questionable" designation as being "Pretty (much) status quo moving forward, I believe."

"Regardless of if he plays the games or not, this will be just kind of the world we live in," Johnson had said.

Lu Dort dives for the ball and took out De’Aaron Fox…

😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/0wCkCtjNyJ

— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) May 23, 2026

This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: De'Aaron Fox injury update, status for Thunder vs Spurs Game 3

CLEVELAND — The message came from the top and trickled down.

The Cavaliers have been here before. They’ve already overcome an 0-2 series deficit this postseason. They’re steadfast that they can do it again.

“OK Cavs fans, feel familiar? Clearly it’s not ideal, but we have done this twice already,” owner Dan Gilbert posted on X after the Knicks’ Game 2 win at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. “We go home, win 2 and then it’s a 3-game series and we win it in 6 or 7. Keep believing. Let Em **C**** Know?”

That sentiment was echoed by the players.

“I think it helps, from a mentality standpoint, this isn’t our first time at it,” Donovan Mitchell said. “This isn’t our first time facing adversity, we’ve been to two Game 7s. So being down 2-0, it’s not the biggest challenge. It’s right here, so let’s go ahead and take advantage of it. I understand that they’re gonna make adjustments, we are as well. … It’s really as simple as we have to protect home court, that’s really it.”

The Cavs have been excellent at home, owning a 6-1 record at Rocket Arena. Their only loss was in Game 6 to the Pistons in the second round.

After falling to an 0-2 deficit, the Cavs won three straight last round before that Game 6 loss, then closed it out in Game 7 in Detroit.

So, Game 3 of these conference finals on Saturday is crucial. It’s hard to see the Knicks, on a historic nine-game winning streak, slowing down. It feels like they are within touching distance of reaching the finals for the first time this century.

But it just takes one game to completely change the tone of a series. Win Game 3, and the Knicks have one foot in the finals. They could even begin thinking about a potential rest advantage once again while the Thunder and Spurs beat each other up over in the West.

Lose Game 3, though, and all of a sudden it’s a series. All of a sudden, there is pressure on the Knicks to avoid returning home with the series tied 2-2.

And, to be fair, the Knicks completely stole Game 1 with their epic comeback. The Cavs outplayed them for the vast majority of that game.

The Knicks won two games in last year’s conference finals, too, though they never led that series. But they have not yet gotten any farther than they did a year ago.

“We don’t feel any closer than we did last game or any game,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after Game 2. “In our minds, it’s back to 0-0. We gotta win the next game, it’s the most important game of the year.

“That’s how we treat it. We’re hungry to go out there and play basketball at the highest level. But we also understand that you can never be satisfied in these positions in the playoffs. The mindset is gonna continue to be 0-0 every single time we step on that court.”

Can the Knicks put their foot down and essentially end this series? Or can the Cavaliers make things interesting?

The direction of the series is at stake. 

Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren was considered a top-two defender in the NBA. He only trailed San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year, for the most total votes by 10, 200-190.

The pair of ‘cream of the crop’ shot blockers are going head-to-head in the Western Conference Finals as you read this. They have disliked each other since the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup in Riga, Latvia, when USA’s Holmgren won the gold medal over France’s Wembanyama. Holmgren won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award.

The lanky challenger at the rim is coming off an NBA All-Star appearance for the first time in his career. He’s on the chase for a second-straight NBA championship, becoming only the fourth Zag to win an NBA title last summer (Los Angeles Lakers’ Adam Morrison in 2009 and 2010, Miami Heat’s Ronny Turiaf in 2012, and San Antonio Spurs’ Austin Daye in 2014).

Through 69 starts for the Thunder, the 7-1 talent averaged 17.1 points on a shooting split of 55.7 percent from the field, 36.2 percent on three-pointers, and 79.2 percent at the charity stripe. His 8.9 rebounds per game rank tied for No. 11 in the NBA, while his 1.9 blocks per game are tied for No. 2. Most importantly, the world’s up-and-coming basketball star listed a defensive rating of 104.1.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho

Gilgeous-Alexander, bench propel Thunder past Spurs 123-108 after historic slow start for 2-1 lead originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder climbed out of a 15-point hole minutes into the game to beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-108 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in their series.

Jared McCain had 24 points and Jaylin Williams added 18 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder were without Jalen Williams, who sat out with left hamstring soreness.

Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-23, including 15 points by Alex Caruso.

Victor Wembanyama had 24 points for San Antonio. Devin Vassell added 20 and De’Aaron Fox had 15 in his series debut.

The Thunder have won two straight after the Spurs’ double-overtime victory in Game 1. Game 4 is Sunday.
Fox (sprained right ankle) and Dylan Harper (right adductor soreness) were cleared to play 45 minutes prior to tipoff.

Fox’s return sparked a historic start.

The Spurs raced to a 15-0 lead, the longest run to open a game in the conference finals since the play-by-play era began in 1997.

Fox opened the run by wrapping in a driving layup and Wembanyama followed by crossing over Isaiah Hartenstein to drill a 3-pointer. Vassell’s 3-pointer put the Spurs up 10-0, leading to an early timeout by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

Hartenstein broke the drought with a runner over Wembanyama, but the center was immediately greeted with thunderous boos after his physical play against the Spurs in Game 2.

The Thunder went on a 13-2 run when Wembanyama went to the bench and closed the first quarter trailing 31-26.

It was a pattern the Spurs could not overcome.

The series continued to be chippy with emotions boiling over early in the second half. Stephon Castle hit the court on back-to-back dunk attempts. The second resulted in a flagrant 1 foul against Ajay Mitchell and technical fouls on Mitchell and Vassell after the two exchanged words following the foul.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams extended Oklahoma City’s first lead to 35-31.

Gilgeous-Alexander, bench propel Thunder past Spurs 123-108 after historic slow start for 2-1 lead originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder climbed out of a 15-point hole minutes into the game to beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-108 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in their series.

Jared McCain had 24 points and Jaylin Williams added 18 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder were without Jalen Williams, who sat out with left hamstring soreness.

Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-23, including 15 points by Alex Caruso.

Victor Wembanyama had 24 points for San Antonio. Devin Vassell added 20 and De’Aaron Fox had 15 in his series debut.

The Thunder have won two straight after the Spurs’ double-overtime victory in Game 1. Game 4 is Sunday.
Fox (sprained right ankle) and Dylan Harper (right adductor soreness) were cleared to play 45 minutes prior to tipoff.

Fox’s return sparked a historic start.

The Spurs raced to a 15-0 lead, the longest run to open a game in the conference finals since the play-by-play era began in 1997.

Fox opened the run by wrapping in a driving layup and Wembanyama followed by crossing over Isaiah Hartenstein to drill a 3-pointer. Vassell’s 3-pointer put the Spurs up 10-0, leading to an early timeout by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

Hartenstein broke the drought with a runner over Wembanyama, but the center was immediately greeted with thunderous boos after his physical play against the Spurs in Game 2.

The Thunder went on a 13-2 run when Wembanyama went to the bench and closed the first quarter trailing 31-26.

It was a pattern the Spurs could not overcome.

The series continued to be chippy with emotions boiling over early in the second half. Stephon Castle hit the court on back-to-back dunk attempts. The second resulted in a flagrant 1 foul against Ajay Mitchell and technical fouls on Mitchell and Vassell after the two exchanged words following the foul.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams extended Oklahoma City’s first lead to 35-31.

Kendrick Perkins thinks this is all a LeBron James charade.

As rumors swirl about what the future holds for James, Perkins said on ESPN’s “sports talk show “First Take,” that the 41-year-old Lakers star already knows what his next move will be.

“Look I’ve been knowing LeBron all my life. He moves like the president,” said Perkins, who teamed briefly with James on the Cavaliers in 2015.

“He already has a plan in place. He knows what he’s doing. He knows what his next move is.”

As the NBA Finals approach, one of the biggest topics of the offseason has been whether or not James will retire, play for another team or sign up for another season in Los Angeles.

ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania recently said that James is weighing out all of his options.

James hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down after averaging 21 points and 6.1 rebounds as the Lakers were swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the Thunder.

James, himself, said on his “Mind the Game” podcast this week that his decision is coming sooner than later following a family vacation scheduled to begin this Memorial Day weekend.

"We took the bait. He threw his fishing pole out there… He caught the attention that he wanted." @KendrickPerkins on LeBron James talking about his future in the NBA pic.twitter.com/3goY2eI23L

— First Take (@FirstTake) May 22, 2026

Perkins however, thinks the decision has long been made.

“He already knows that,” Perkins said. “Like this right here, was just throwing the bait out to get more national media attention real quick, to get people talking about it. And here we are talking about it again. He’s already got his plan.”

Derrick White is officially a member of the All-Defensive first team for the first time in his career.

The Celtics guard, who made the second team in 2022-23 and 2023-24, joined Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Ausar Thompson and Rudy Gobert on this year’s top squad.

He received 58 first-team votes and 30 second-team votes, edging out Toronto’s Scottie Barnes by 18 points to claim the final spot.

White, 31, led all guards in the NBA with 1.3 blocks per game, racking up the most in a season (98) since Dwyane Wade in 2008-09. The 6-foot-4-inch White also added 1.1 steals per night and stabilized a unit that allowed the fewest points per game (107.2) in the NBA.

With Jayson Tatum out for most of the season, and Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet all heading elsewhere, White embraced even more responsibility and handled the additional spotlight well.

Neemias Queta received one first-place vote and six second-place votes to finish 19th overall with 8 points. Jaylen Brown was right behind him with two first-place votes and three second-place votes for 7 points.

Hello Shakers, I’ve put this here to so people can discuss the Conference Finals games without having to hunt down which post people are chatting on.

So far it’s been a lot of fun. Two games, three overtimes. (And one less interesting game.)

Game one of OKC vs San Antonio also saw a comeback, and Victor Wembanyama at his most alien. It ended up being a thrilling double overtime victory for the Spurs, with a three point make from Wemby late that is annoyingly iconic.

We saw an amazing comeback from the Knicks, who looked rusty after their time off, but turned on the jets late and blew the knickers off the Cavs. That same game was also a 22 point fourth quarter collapse by the Cavaliers which felt painfully familiar. I don’t think anyone, including the Cavs, thought they’d win in overtime, and they didn’t.

Game two with OKC and San Antonio was literally a slugfest, with OKC doing an astonishing amount of pushing, grabbing and straight up hugging of Wemby. I’m not sure how any of that fits in with the NBA’s “freedom of movement” guidelines, but OKC seems to get away with a lot of stuff that would be a foul from most other teams. They really do feel like a modernized version of the Jerry Sloan Jazz, right down to being from a place most people prefer not to live. “Can’t call ‘em all.” teams are incredibly cynical and tedious, and as much as it would pain me, I’d like OKC to go away more than the Spurs.

Game three of Knicks and Cavs just looked like the Knicks were better, though it took an odd offensive explosion from Josh Hart to make it happen. The Knicks have enough good defenders to stifle Harden and Mitchell and dare someone, anyone, else on the Cavs to beat them. Also, no guard on the Cavs can do much of anything about Jalen Brunson. We’ll see what Saturday brings in The Land.

Tonight’s game is in San Antonio, and we’ll see what sort of shenanigans are allowed from OKC. Possibly not as much in the vital win for OKC in game 2.

While Luka Dončić ended the season sidelined with a hamstring strain, the majority of his first full season as a Laker was a success.

Luka was an All-Star and was named the Western Conference Player of the Month twice. He called the team’s run in March when they went 15-2 as special and is a shoo-in to be named an All-NBA player after finishing fourth in MVP voting.

With the season over, Luka discussed his relationship with the franchise during his exit interview.

“I feel very comfortable,” Dončić said. “I like living here. I like playing for the Lakers. It’s one of the best organizations in the world. Just being a Laker, it means a lot to me. Like I said, I feel very good here.”

It’s not hard to love living in Los Angeles, but it‘s reassuring to hear that Luka is enjoying it.

As the franchise player, Luka’s happiness with the team is the most important thing the Lakers must maintain. So, it should be a relief to fans that all of Dončić’s words and actions indicate he is happy in LA.

Throughout his year and a half with the franchise, Luka has done things big and small to support his teammates and the community he plays in.

He took his teammates to a Porsche Driving Experience during training camp and bought an e-bike for every member of the Lakers organization for the holidays. When Jaxson Hayes was fined for an altercation with Kris Dunn, Luka was glad to pay the fine and support his teammate, having his back.

When tragedy struck LA last year with the wildfires, Luka donated $500,000.

Last summer, when he had the option to either stay under his contract or extend and commit to the Lakers, he chose the latter. And this year, he’s been in regular contact with new majority owner Mark Walter as the team continues to build around Luka.

Many aspects of the Lakers’ roster need to be adjusted to turn them from pretenders to contenders. But the great news is that they have their superstar in place, and he’s happy to call LA his home and the Lakers his team.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San Antonio Spurs guards De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper will play in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Friday, but the Oklahoma City Thunder's Jalen Williams was ruled out.

All three were listed as questionable but their status was updated 45 minutes before the scheduled start of Game 3 with the series tied.

Williams played in Game 1 after missing the previous six postseason contests with a hamstring injury. The 6-foot-6 wing exited Game 2 with tightness in his left hamstring.

Recurring hamstring injuries in both legs limited Williams to 33 games during the regular season.

Fox missed the first two games of the series after his right leg was rolled on by Minnesota guard Ayo Dosunmu in San Antonio's semifinal-clinching victory May 15. Fox finished that game but did not play Monday or Wednesday due to an injury Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said will likely linger as long as they are in the postseason.

Harper made his first two postseason starts in place of Fox but exited Game 2 shortly after landing awkwardly and grabbing his hamstring with 4:50 left in the third quarter. His injury was diagnosed as right adductor soreness.

“I can tell you there’s games that people are playing right now that wouldn’t be playing in the regular season, and, so, that’s what I mean by different,” Johnson said. “I think there are levels of competitiveness and urgency and as of right now we’re at the height of that. So, you just try to make sure you keep some of these guys from themselves and their own competitiveness and desire to be out there because, again, their well-being is still the priority.”

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous pick as Defensive Player of the Year this season, and the only unanimous All-Defensive team selection as well.

The San Antonio star — as expected, given how the DPOY voting went — appeared on all 100 first-team ballots and made first-team All-Defense for the second time in his three NBA seasons. The team was announced Friday night.

Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren, Detroit's Ausar Thompson, Minnesota's Rudy Gobert and Boston's Derrick White rounded out the first team. Gobert is now a nine-time All-Defensive team pick, while Holmgren, Thompson and White were all first-time selections to the first team.

The second team was Toronto's Scottie Barnes, Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace, Miami's Bam Adebayo, New York's OG Anunoby and Atlanta's Dyson Daniels.

Gobert and Daniels are the only players that have made the All-Defensive team in each of the last two seasons.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

The NBA announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2025-26 season, and Knicks forward OG Anunoby made the cut.

Anunoby was named to the Second Team All-Defense after finishing ninth in total voting. His 67 total points (11 first-place votes, 45 second-place votes) beat out Atlanta's Dyson Daniels (50 points), while Scottie Barnes of the Raptors (130), Cason Wallace of the Thunder (94) and Bam Adebayo of the Heat (71) joined Anunoby on the second team.

The Spurs' Victor Wembanyama (200) -- who was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year -- the Thunder's Chet Holmgren (190), the Pistons' Ausar Thompson (166), Rudy Gobert of Minnesota (151) and Boston's Derrick White (146) were named to the first team. 

This is the second time in Anunoby's career he's been named to an All-Defensive team. He was named to the second team in the 2022-23 season as a member of the Raptors. 

Anunoby had his best defensive season as a Knick and arguably the best of his nine-year career. 

He averaged 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks, but a lot of what Anunoby does not show up on the stat sheet. If you look at the advanced statistics, Anunoby is great. He had a 3.2 Defensive Win Share (DWS), which estimates the number of wins contributed due to defense, his highest since his 3.7 DWS during the 2021-22 season. 

Knicks head coach Mike Brown had a strong opinion on Anunoby's lone All-Defensive nod back in April, while also makinga case for his forward to be named to the first team. 

"It's bulls--t, and I can say that with a straight face 'cause he's a great defender and he does a lot of different things that people don't see on that end of the floor for us and for other teams he played for," Brown said. "But more importantly, his versatility is just off the charts and you can do a lot of things with your defense because of him. In my opinion, he deserves First Team All-Defense this year -- and hopefully the powers that be will see it that way, too."