In an era defined by high-octane scoring, defense remains the one language of basketball that never goes out of style.
And no one spoke it more fluently this season than Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.
The 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year headlined the All-Defensive First Team alongside the Atlanta Hawks’ Dyson Daniels, Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, Houston Rockets’ Amen Thompson, and OKC Thunder’s Lu Dort.
Mobley received 99 of a possible 100 first-place votes (199 total points) to earn his second such nod after an elite campaign as the Cavaliers’ main defensive anchor.
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The lanky big man submitted 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 71 games, helping Cleveland (64-18) finish with the second-best record in franchise history and earn the top playoff seed in the East.
Daniels, the reigning Most Improved Player, got 91 first-place votes en route to his maiden All-Defensive Team selection. He led the league in steals per game (3.01) and total steals (229).
[ALSO READ: After breakout year, Hawks’ Dyson Daniels nabs 2025 NBA Most Improved Player award]
Green made his return to the First Team for the first time since 2020-21 as the former Defensive Player of the Year winner earned his ninth All-Defensive selection overall.
As for Thompson, the 22-year-old became just the fifth player in Rockets history to be a first-team All-Defensive selection and the first since Patrick Beverly back in 2014.
Finally, Dort emerged as a key cog for a Oklahoma City team who led the league in defensive rating (106.6), steals, turnovers forced, deflections, and points off turnovers in the regular season. He became the third Thunder player to earn First Team All-Defensive honors.
Meanwhile, former DPOY winners Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies bannered the All-Defensive Second Team alongside Toumani Camara of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jalen Williams of the OKC Thunder, and Ivica Zubac of the LA Clippers.
Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, landed on the Second Team for the first time in his career after seven First Team nods.
Jackson, who won DPOY in 2023, finds himself in a similar position—now a Second Teamer after back-to-back First Team appearances.
Camara, Williams, and Zubac made the team for the first time in their careers.
