When the NBA released it’s All-Defensive Team, it wasn’t LeBron who earned the most votes. So, who is the guy who threw a wrench in LBJ’s stranglehold as the most dominant force in almost every aspect of basketball? Tony Allen.
That said, Allen beat out James as the top vote-getter by the slimmest of margins – 53 to 52. Each guy had 25 first team votes from the NBA’s 30 head coaches. Who are the five who didn’t feel these two deserved to be there? Really, they need to be sat down and their eyes pried open with toothpicks and forced to watch game footage. Stupid.
When asked, James had this to say about winning the honors: ‘‘We (Heat) pride ourselves on defense here. I’m one of the catalysts, as far as taking that side of the ball very seriously. We all do.” I love humble athletes. He continued, “Any time you’re awarded anything individually, it’s an honor.” The correct answer is, “I owe this to my team who play brilliant defense night in and night out” (they don’t necessarily).
Rounding out the first team are Serge Ibaka (46 votes), Chris Paul (37), Tyson Chandler (24) and Joakim Noah (24).
I’d mention the second team but does anyone really care about the “next best”?
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