3 Milwaukee Bucks players named to NBA All-Defensive teams
Milwaukee Bucks players Brook Lopez, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Eric Bledsoe defend Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE - Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named to the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team while Eric Bledsoe and Brook Lopez were both selected to the All-Defensive Second Team, the NBA announced on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
This is the first time in franchise history that the Bucks have had three players earn All-Defensive honors in the same season.
The trio of Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe and Lopez helped the Bucks have the top defense in the NBA for the second straight season as Milwaukee led the league in defensive rating (102.5) while holding opponents to a league-low 41.4 field goal percentage this season.
Antetokounmpo, who was previously named the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, has now earned First Team All-Defense in each of the last two seasons. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2 times), Sidney Moncrief (4 times) and Paul Pressey (2 times) as the only players in franchise history to be selected to the All-Defensive First Team in multiple seasons.
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This is the third season Antetokounmpo has landed on one of the NBA All-Defensive teams as he earned Second Team honors following the 2016-17 season, in addition to his First Team honors the past two seasons.
This is the second straight season Bledsoe has been named to an All-Defensive team after he was selected to the First Team last season. Bledsoe was seventh in the NBA in individual defensive rating (103.9) this season, which ranked second among guards.
For Lopez, this is the first time he’s earned All-Defensive team honors in his career. This season, Lopez averaged a career-high 2.4 blocks per game, which ranked second in the NBA, in addition to ranking second in the league in defensive rating (100.2).
Antetokounmpo is joined on the 2019-20 NBA All-Defensive First Team by Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers), Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz), Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers) and Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics).
Bledsoe and Lopez were named to the All-Defensive Second Team along with Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Patrick Beverley (Los Angeles Clippers) and Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers).
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