Luol Deng Makes the NBA's All-Defensive Team

Luol's selection marks the second consecutive year a Chicago Bulls player has made the All-Defensive team

The NBA on Wednesday announced its All-Defensive teams, and Bulls All-Star Luol Deng was
named to the second team while league MVP, LeBron James, headlined the list.

The voting panel consists of the NBA's 30 head coaches who vote for the first and second team, but who aren't allowed to vote for players on their own team.

Two points are given for a first team vote and one points given for a second team vote. James totaled 53 points overall and received 24 first team votes. James was the only player on either team to top 50 votes.

Joining LeBron on the first team were Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder), Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers) and Chicago native Tony Allen (Memphis Grizzlies).

Deng, the Bulls most versatile defender who has the ability to guard three to four positions on the court, finished third in points (20) on the second team as a result of receiving eight first place votes and six second place votes. His selection is his first time being recognized by the NBA in this manner and marks the second consecutive year a Chicago Bulls player has made the All-Defensive team.

Joakim Noah made the second team last season.

The rest of the second team includes Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics), Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks) and Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics). Chandler making the second team is extremely puzzling considering he was the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year this season.

And outside of Deng being a second team selection, other Bulls players received votes as well. The aforementioned Noah received 14 total votes and Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer each received one vote apiece. Also, Oak Park Native Iman Shumpert (New York Knicks) received 13 total votes and four first place votes.

Outside of Tyson Chandler making the second team being rather confusing, the fact that Carlos Boozer received any votes at all is quite the surprise.

One thing that Boozer isn't known for is his defense. However, he did look much better on the defensive side of the ball this season as compared to last season, but was that enough to garner a vote? And if so, from whom?

Regardless, it's nice to see the Bulls being represented in this way and it's a testament to the defensive philosophies and principles that Tom Thibodeau has put in place since taking over as coach last season. Thibs has made the Bulls one of the elite defensive teams in the NBA in the span of two years. 

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