NBA All-Defense Teams for 2025–26 Season: Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert Headline This Year's Defensive Honors
On Friday night, the NBA announced this year's All-Defense team.
An annual exercise to reward the 10 best defenders in the league every year, the two All-Defense teams for this season are littered with recognizable names. Unanimous Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, of course, earned a spot on the first team of this year's All-Defense honors-the second of his young career after he became the first rookie in NBA history to take one of the five coveted first-team spots in 2023–24. The two runner-ups to the DPOY award, Ausar Thompson and Chet Holmgren, had tremendous seasons on that end of the ball in their own rights and were rewarded accordingly with first-team slots.
They headline the ‘25–26 All-Defense teams. The full rosters can be found below.
NBA All-Defense teams for 2025–26
First team
| Player | Team | # of All-Defense honors |
|---|---|---|
| Victor Wembanyama | San Antonio Spurs | 2 |
| Ausar Thompson | Detroit Pistons | 1 |
| Chet Holmgren | Oklahoma City Thunder | 1 |
| Rudy Gobert | Minnesota Timberwolves | 9 |
| Derrick White | Boston Celtics | 3 |
Second team
| Player | Team | # of All-Defense honors |
|---|---|---|
| Scottie Barnes | Toronto Raptors | 1 |
| Cason Wallace | Oklahoma City Thunder | 1 |
| Bam Adebayo | Miami Heat | 6 |
| OG Anunoby | New York Knicks | 2 |
| Dyson Daniels | Atlanta Hawks | 2 |
Who was on last year's All-Defense teams?
The biggest (literally) name to earn this year's All-Defense honors was conspicuously absent last season; Wembanyama was ineligible for end-of-season awards due to a blood clot that cut his season short. But there were plenty of notable names.
Last year's first team featured: Cleveland's Evan Mobley (who won DPOY), Atlanta's Dyson Daniels, Oklahoma City's Lu Dort, Golden State's Draymond Green and Houston's Amen Thompson.
Last year's second team featured: Portland's Toumani Camara, Minnesota's Rudy Gobert, former Grizzlies turned Jazz star Jaren Jackson Jr. and former Clippers turned Pacers center Ivica Zubac.
Do All-Defense teams impact contracts?
No, they do not. Earning an All-Defense spot is a great honor on its own. With only 10 spots it's fierce competition and to be recognized as one of the very best defenders in a league more talented than ever is an amazing accomplishment.
However, it doesn't have financial implications the same way All-NBA teams do. If a player is named to an All-NBA team they could be eligible for a supermax contract should they meet other criteria. But All-Defense doesn't apply. Good agents will still wield an All-Defense nomination as a negotiating tool (Thompson's certainly should in contract talks with the Pistons this offseason) but only winning DPOY, MVP or earning an All-NBA spot can lead to a max contract.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 4:41 PM.