Boston Celtics guard Derrick White is believed to be one of the very best defenders in the NBA by some.
The NBA announced the All-Defensive teams for the 2024-25 campaign Thursday, but despite making the team in each of the last two seasons, White was snubbed. Evan Mobley, Draymond Green, Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort and Amen Thompson were named to the first team, while Toumani Camara, Rudy Gobert, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Williams and Ivica Zubac were named to the second team.
White received a pair of first-place votes, 11 second-place votes and 15 third-place votes, and was on the third-most total ballots among players who weren’t named to either team.
It’s hard to argue that he should have made the team just because he had in each of the last two seasons, but the stats back him up. White tallied the most blocks among players under 6-foot-7, finished the season with a defensive rating of 112.1 and averaged more steals (0.9) and blocks (1.1) than exactly half of the players who received more votes than him.
It’s a snub, no matter how you slice it.
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