MIAMI – The NBA announced its annual All-Defensive First and Second Teams on Monday, and a pair of Miami Heat players made the cut.
Heat forward Bam Adebayo and guard Jimmy Butler were both named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team.
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Adebayo, playing in his fourth NBA season, was also voted to the NBA All-Defensive last year. He finished this season averaging 18.7 points on 57.0 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
For Butler, it’s the fifth time in his 10 years in the NBA that he’s been voted to an All-Defensive team.
He led the Heat in scoring, averaging 21.5 points per game, and added 6.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and an NBA-leading 2.08 steals.
Butler is the first player in Heat franchise history to lead the league in steals.
Neither player has been voted to an NBA All-Defensive First Team during their respective careers, yet.
A panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters voted on the team, and amazingly, Butler and Adebayo ended up with the exact same number of points (111).
Players were awarded two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote. Bam and Jimmy received 37 First Team votes and 37 Second Team votes apiece.
The only other time two Heat players were voted on the NBA All-Defensive Team was during the 1998-99 season. Back then, it was Alonzo Mourning and P.J. Brown doing the honors.