Celtics’ Avery Bradley named to NBA All-Defensive first team
Bradley earned the honor for the first time in his six-year NBA career
Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley has made a habit of setting challenging individual goals for himself ahead of every season. On Wednesday, he achieved a lofty one: NBA All-Defensive first team.
A panel of 130 media members voted Bradley as one of the league’s top defenders for the first time in his career. The 25-year-old received 62 first-team votes and 25 second-team votes from the panel, earning 149 overall points, the highest total for any guard in the league. Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and DeAndre Jordan joined Bradley in receiving first-team honors.
Congrats to Avery Bradley on his NBA All-Defensive first team selection! pic.twitter.com/HI0TPhzXUl
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 25, 2016
Bradley’s teammates and peers campaigned for the six-year veteran to earn the league-wide recognition over the course of the 2015-16 season. Portland’s starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum both called Bradley the best perimeter defender in the league back after he contained the duo in March, not long after he’d hounded Steph Curry in Boston’s upset win over the Golden State Warriors.
The 6-foot-2 guard, who earned a second team all-defensive selection in 2013, averaged a career-high 1.5 steals in 76 games during the 2015-16 season.
Former Celtic Tony Allen earned second-team honors along with Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Paul Millsap and Hassan Whiteside.
Bradley’s teammate Jae Crowder fell just short of second-team honors, earning three first-team votes and 47 points. That total was just one shy of George’s 48 points. Second-year Celtics guard Marcus Smart also received seven total points, including a pair of first-team votes.
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