Victor Wembanyama Headlines 2025–26 Nba All Defensive Team
Victor Wembanyama led the nba all defensive team after the NBA named its 2025–26 All-Defense squads Friday night, putting him on the first team with Ausar Thompson and Chet Holmgren. The league split the honors into two teams, recognizing 10 best defenders across five coveted first-team spots.
Wembanyama at the top
Wembanyama’s first-team selection followed a season in which he was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and led the NBA with 3.1 blocks per game. That combination put him at the center of the announcement and kept San Antonio’s anchor in the same conversation as the league’s other top defenders.
His place on the first team also carried a bit of continuity. In 2023–24, he became the first rookie in NBA history to take one of the five first-team All-Defense spots, and this year he returned to the same level after another season built on rim protection and disruption.
Thompson and Holmgren
Thompson joined him on the first team after making a big step forward as a true game-changer on defense in his third season. Holmgren earned the other first-team spot, and his case was built on being the best rim protector in the NBA outside of San Antonio for the Thunder.
Both finished behind Wembanyama in Defensive Player of the Year voting, but their first-team selections show how much weight the league gave to players who changed possessions at the rim and across the floor. The first team’s three names set the tone for the rest of the announcement.
Gobert and White
Rudy Gobert took one of the final two All-Defense spots, extending a run that keeps him close to a major benchmark. If he earns one more selection in the future, that would give him 10 All-Defense nods, one more than Michael Jordan’s nine.
Derrick White’s outstanding season in Boston also did not go overlooked, giving the second team another name from a defense-heavy race. For readers tracking the league’s defensive hierarchy, Friday night drew the line between the players who finished on the first team and the veterans whose resumes kept growing on the second.
