John Wall was asked to increase his defense at the start of the season. The Washington Wizards believed he did that, and his efforts received validation Wednesday when he was named to the NBA’s all-defensive second team.
Wall is the ninth player in franchise history named to an all-defensive team, and first since Larry Hughes was on the first team in 2004-05. Wall joins Mike Riordan (1972-73), Elvin Hayes (1973-74 and 1974-75) and Manute Bol (1985-86) as the fourth player in franchise history to earn second-team honors.
“We take tremendous pride in our defensive effort as a team so this is a great honor not only for me, but for my teammates and coaches as well,” Wall said in a statement. “I always try to set the tone for us on the defensive end and we’ve all worked hard to become one of the best defensive teams in the league.”
Wall was fifth in blocks per game among guards, ninth in rebounds and 11th overall in steals.
No other Wizards player received a vote despite the team setting a franchise record for defensive field-goal percentage and finishing second in the league in that category.
Wall was joined on the all-defensive Second Team by New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Golden State’s Andrew Bogut and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, Memphis’ Tony Allen, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, Golden State’s Draymond Green and the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan made the first team.
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Houston’s Patrick Beverley and Atlanta’s Jeff Teague were among the other points guards receiving votes.
Players were awarded two points for each first-team vote and one point for each second-team vote from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Voters were asked to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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