Scottie Barnes Has Strong Reaction to NBA All-Defensive First Team Snub
When the NBA announced its All-Defensive First Team on Friday, Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes was a surprising omission from the five-man squad.
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was the only unanimous selection on the first team. The rest of the players included Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson, and Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.
As one can imagine, fans were stunned to see Barnes left off the first team. Instead, Barnes received a spot on the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for his body of work this past season.
Barnes’ stats this past season included 7.5 rebounds per game, with an average of 5.6 defensive rebounds. Additionally, he averaged 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, matching his previous career highs.
Read more: Fans Erupt After Derrick White Makes First-Team All-Defense Over Scottie Barnes
According to StatMuse, Barnes’ 110.1 defensive rating was tied with the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham and All-Defensive First Team selection Rudy Gobert for fourth-best in the league.
The Raptors forward-guard seemed surprised by his snub, sharing the first- and second-team reveals from ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania and calling out his placement.
“Mannnn what do I tell ya [expletive] Let’s keep working,” he wrote in his X message reacting to the news with several emojis, including a face-palm, crying-laughing face, and heart.
The NBA Canada Instagram account revealed the voting for this year’s all-defensive teams, showing that all 100 of Wemby’s votes went to him, making him unanimous for the first team. Holmgren was very close to that, getting 93 first-place votes and four second-place votes.
Meanwhile, the lowest vote-getter on the first team was Boston’s White, who had 58 first-place votes and 30 second-place votes for a total of 146 points. Barnes was near those totals with 42 first-place votes and 46 second-place votes for 130 total points.
Adding to that argument is that Barnes was good enough to finish fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of White, with 21 points to White’s eight. Wembanyama was the unanimous winner of this year’s award with 100 first-place votes and 500 points, per ESPN.
The Raptors star achieved his first-ever selection for any defensive team this season, which was also his second year of being selected for the NBA All-Star Game. Along with that, he was part of a Toronto team that surged into the playoffs and took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a full seven games in the first round.
While he’s unlikely to pass Wembanyama for DPOY as long as the Spurs star is healthy, it seems Barnes is motivated to work harder to prove he belongs among the league’s five best defenders.
Fans recently saw how Wemby reacted when opponent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the NBA Most Valuable Player trophy before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. It’s going to be very intriguing to see how Barnes responds to his perceived snub in his next season.
Read more:Victor Wembanyama Goes Viral in Photo With Spurs Legend Ahead of Game 3
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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 12:57 PM.