This isn’t a shock. For the second consecutive year, Joel Embiid is named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team:

It was expected that Embiid would make the second team after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was named as one of the three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George. Embiid netted just four first team votes and led all players with 72 second team votes.

Here’s a full breakdown of the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, after the jump:

NBA All-Defensive Teams

This graphic doesn’t reflect any other Sixers who earned All-Defensive Team votes, but check out these numbers:


Ben Simmons picked up just two votes for the All-Defensive Second Team, while Jimmy Butler snagged two First Team votes and five Second Team votes. It’s a bit of a bummer for the latter – who was once described by a Philadelphia sports talk program director as a “role player” – since Robert Covington made the All-Defensive First Team a year ago.