Giannis Antetokounmpo Named to NBA All-Defensive Second Team

On a day where Bucks fans are giddily awaiting the accolades from some of the team’s outstanding players, Milwaukee’s most outstanding Buck earned a notable bit of recognition: Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team. The last Buck to make such a claim? Alvin Robertson, back in 1990-91.

This is the first All-Defense team that Giannis has been added to; he was actually tied with Paul Millsap with 35 points, but won the tiebreaker with seven first-place votes. On the second team, Giannis was joined by Tony Allen, Danny Green, Andre Roberson, and Anthony Davis, and the first team was comprised of Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, and Patrick Beverley.

Giannis’ extreme length and unfathomable mobility were obvious tools in his defensive repatoire, but this season was when Giannis’ defense went from imaginary to impactful. With 131 steals (9th in the league) and 151 blocks (5th in the league), Giannis Greek Freak’d all over NBA offenses, and largely led the Bucks’ return to defensive adequacy.

The best part? Giannis is still only 22 years old and has a ton of developing to go on the defensive end, particularly when it comes to on-ball defense, fighting through screens, and communicating with his teammates. If this is where Giannis is today, imagine where he’ll be in three years.

And in case you still aren’t convinced...