Victor Wembanyama, the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, was joined by Chet Holmgren on the All-Defensive First team. Joshua Gateley / Getty ImagesMay 22, 2026 7:44 pm EDT Updated They are currently the fiercest of competitors, facing off in the 2026 Western Conference finals. But for one celebratory moment on Friday, the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren were named members of the same team.Wembanyama and Holmgren headline the 2025-26 NBA All-Defensive First Team, which was announced Friday night, one hour before Game 3 between the Spurs and Thunder in San Antonio.Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons, Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Derrick White of the Boston Celtics rounded out the All-Defensive First Team.Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, Cason Wallace of the Thunder, Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks and Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks were named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
Wembanyama was named to the first team on all 100 ballots cast — not a surprise given that he was the unanimous choice for 2025-26 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. A towering 7-foot-4 center, Wembanyama anchored a Spurs defense that posted the league’s third-best defensive rating during the regular season. He also led all players in blocks. His 4.0 blocks per game were twice as many as the runner-up, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley, who ended the season with 1.9 blocks per game.This is the second time in Wembanyama’s three-year NBA career that he’s been named to the All-Defensive First Team. In 2024, he became the first rookie in league history to receive the honor. Last season, he was ineligible because a blood clot limited him to 46 games.Holmgren was named to the first team on 93 of the ballots cast — also not a surprise given that he was the runner-up to Wembanyama for Defensive Player of the Year. A 7-foot-1 forward/center, Holmgren led the Thunder to the league’s best defensive rating.This is the first time Holmgren has made an NBA All-Defensive team.
