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Noah heads NBA All-Defensive team
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, highlights the 2013-14 NBA All-Defensive First Team.
The NBA announced Monday that Noah received 105 first-team votes and 223 points. It is his second consecutive year on the first team.
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (161 points, 65 first-team votes), Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (156, 64), Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (152, 54) and Golden State Warriors guard/forward Andre Iguodala (148, 57) join Noah on the first team.
The voting panel consisted of 123 writers and broadcasters from the U.S. and Canada. Two points were awarded for a first-team vote and one point for a second-team vote.
Noah was sixth in the NBA with 11.3 rebounds per game, 12th with 1.51 blocks per game and he averaged 1.24 steals. He was one of just three players to average at least 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per contest. The Bulls held opponents to 43 percent shooting, second lowest in the NBA.
Paul led the NBA in steals at 2.48 per game for the fourth straight season and sixth time in his career. George ranked fifth in the NBA in at 1.89 steals per game and was the only player in the league to average at least 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals. Iguodala averaged 1.50 steals, as the Warriors improved from 19th in 2012-13 to 10th in 2013-14 in the NBA in fewest points allowed.
The second team included Miami Heat forward LeBron James (57 first-team votes), Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (44), Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (29), San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (16) and Pacers center Roy Hibbert (15).
