Wembanyama, White Named Defensive Players Of The Month
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama has been named February’s Defensive Player of the Month for the Western Conference, while Celtics guard Derrick White has earned the honor for the Eastern Conference, according to the NBA (Twitter link).
Wembanyama, who is the betting favorite for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, led the NBA in blocks per game (3.5) in February, increasing his league-best mark to 2.9 BPG. According to the NBA, he also ranked second in the Western Conference in defensive rebounds per game (9.3) as the Spurs enjoyed a perfect month (11-0).
San Antonio’s league-best +15.1 net rating in February was buoyed by a defensive rating of 106.2, which was the second-best mark in the league and ranked first among Western Conference teams. That rating improved to 100.0 during Wembanyama’s 323 minutes and dipped to 111.1 when he wasn’t on the floor.
Wembanyama was also named the West’s Defensive Player of the Month in January, so he’s the first repeat winner in either conference so far this season.
The Celtics were the only team with an overall defensive rating (105.5) better than the Spurs’ mark in February, and White was a crucial part of that effort. Despite standing just 6’4″, the veteran guard averaged 1.7 blocks per game for the month, which ranked third in the East. He also contested 75 shots, the highest total among guards, per the NBA.
As was the case with Wembanyama in San Antonio, the Celtics posted a defensive rating of just 100.0 when White was on the court in February.
Wembanya’s teammate Stephon Castle was among the other nominees for Defensive Player of the Month in the Western Conference, along with Clippers guard Kris Dunn, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., and Thunder teammates Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace (Twitter link).
Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Knicks forward OG Anunoby, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, and Pistons wing Ausar Thompson were nominated in the East.
And-Ones: Durant, Olympics, U.S. Roster, Parker, Brooks
Four-time gold medalist Kevin Durant tells Vincent Goodwill of ESPN he wants to represent Team USA again at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The 37-year-old Rockets forward, who is the U.S men’s team’s all-time leading scorer in Olympic competition, did add a caveat, however.
“Hell yeah, I want to play,” Durant said. “I would love to, but I’ve got to stay on top of my game. I’m not expecting, I want to produce on the floor and make (managing director) Grant (Hill) and whoever is making the decisions, want to put me on the team. I don’t want — not just for seniority. I want to still prove I can help the team win.
“Today, yeah I feel like I’ll put my name in that hat.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Speaking of the 2028 Olympics and USA Basketball, Zach Kram of ESPN takes an early look at potential candidates for the Americans’ roster. Kram predicts that Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Jalen Duren, Amen Thompson, Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo and Jayson Tatum will be the 12 players selected (they’re listed by age). Durant could take the final wing spot on the roster, according to Kram, but only if he’s still “engaged and deserving” two-plus years from now.
- Partizan Belgrade is expected to loan former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker to Spanish club Joventut Badalona for the rest of the season, according to a report from Mozzart Sport (hat tip to Sportando). Parker been away from the Serbian club for several weeks, last playing on January 9. The veteran power forward is still under contract with Partizan through 2026/27, though his future with the team is uncertain.
- Shooting guard Armoni Brooks, who played parts of three NBA seasons from 2020-24, has been named MVP of the Italian Cup after helping lead Olimpia Milano to a title in the domestic tournament, per Fabio Cavagnera of RealOlimpiaMilano.com (hat tip to Sportando). The 27-year-old said he “100%” wants to re-sign with the Italian squad.
Thunder Notes: Joe, Injuries, Holmgren, Caruso, Topic
Thunder guard Isaiah Joe is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA, but the 26-year-old contributes to winning in other ways as well, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
Joe lit up the Cavaliers on Sunday, tying his season high with 22 points and converting six of his 11 looks from behind the arc. But he also had a career-high five steals, plus three assists and two rebounds in 30 minutes.
“From a young age, I’ve always taken pride in it,” Joe said of his defense. “Being undersized out there, you don’t want to be the weak link. With this team that we have, we have tremendous defenders. We can almost live and die on our defense every single game. So whenever I’m out there I just try to stay physical, make the right rotations, take charges and try to win on the defensive end.”
As Martinez writes, Joe is an adept off-ball mover and cutter on top of being an unselfish passer. Fellow guard Cason Wallace, who had his first career double-double Sunday (20 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals), praised Joe’s all-around game.
“He’s a great cutter,” Wallace said. “If you overplay him, he’s very smart. He’ll back-cut you and finish at the rim. He’s a high-level rebounder. He has a full game, for sure.”
We have more from Oklahoma City:
- Head coach Mark Daigneault praised Joe after Sunday’s win, according to Martinez (Twitter video link). As Martinez notes, Joe is averaging 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 50.8% from long distance in nine February games (26.4 MPG) amid injuries to several key players. “He’s been unbelievable,” Daigneault said of the former second-round pick. “We’ve obviously endured injuries but also the fluidity of those injuries. It hasn’t been the same people out that have allowed us to get into a team rhythm. It’s just been a weird situation where the minute we get one guy back, another has gone out. He has been a stabilizing force.”
- The Thunder were missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell on Sunday, yet they outplayed the Cavs, who entered the game having won seven straight games and 12 of their past 13. OKC’s shorthanded victory over Cleveland is one reason why the NBA should rethink it’s marketing strategy and focus more on the depth of talent across the league and on the best teams rather than just star players, says Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I think we do discredit ‘team,’” Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell said. “This wasn’t a situation where we were like, ‘All right, we’re going to come in here (and dominate, because of OKC’s injuries).’ They’re a championship-level team. But I do think you see that, no SGA, no J-Dub, as fans, not as us (the Cavs), and you do think, ‘Oh, it should just be a (cakewalk).’ You know what I mean? These guys can go. They can play. We’ve seen that. This league is very talented.”
- All-Star big man Chet Holmgren is questionable for Tuesday’s game against Toronto because of lower back spasms, tweets Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire. Caruso (left ankle sprain) is also questionable.
- After his second NBA game on Friday, Nikola Topic reflected his difficult road back to the court, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The 20-year-old Serbian guard recovered from a torn ACL only to be diagnosed with testicular cancer in the fall. “I have to thank the organization as a whole, from the players and coaching staff to the medical team,” Topic said. “They were incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. And, of course, the fans as well.” Topic received a standing ovation in his first home game. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life, and I’ll try to kind of say thank you on the court,” he added.
Northwest Notes: Holmgren, SGA, CP3, Murray, Lillard
Rockets star Kevin Durant has grown close to Thunder big man Chet Holmgren over the years because they share a similar mindset, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
“He wants to be great,” Durant told The Oklahoman. “It’s that simple. A lot of people don’t want to be great. They don’t want to leave their mark and have their name etched in stone with some of the greats in this league. He wants that. Every time he approaches his work, it’s that mentality. … His mindset is really what stood out to me.”
Holmgren, who will make his first All-Star appearance on Sunday, has always been ambitious but has learned to put individual statistics to the side in support of the team.
“I’ve played long enough and I have an understanding that when you try to force your way to things that aren’t a win, one, it usually hurts your team,” Holmgren said. “And two, a lot of times you don’t end up winning. … I still think I have to be aggressive, but it has to be within making the right play.”
We have have more from around the Northwest:
- At his media session on Saturday, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the impact Chris Paul had on his career (Twitter links courtesy of Martinez). The legendary point guard, who played one year with Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, announced his retirement on Friday after he was waived by Toronto. “Chris was special for my career,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Off the court, he was the first person that I was around to really take care of their body and show me the importance of the weight room. … He was the first point guard that I studied. … He was the standard for a point guard. And obviously, fast forward a couple of years, he’s one of my closest friends. … Honestly, it’s sad the way it’s happened. I thought he would get his flowers a little bit differently, but that’ll never change what he’s done for this game. I’m proud of him. He’s been special. Hopefully I can get to that level of mastering the game of basketball.”
- Nuggets legends Alex English and Dan Issel think Jamal Murray‘s first All-Star appearance was long overdue, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “He should have been an All-Star before now, but I think part of the explanation is that he’s playing with the greatest player on the planet,” Issel said. “And I think that usurps, sometimes, what a great player he is. But when he needs to, he also steps up. … I don’t know that they’d be a championship-caliber team — it would depend who else was with Jamal — but I think he would be very successful if he was on a team where he was the No. 1 scoring option.”
- For his part, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic hopes to play with Murray for the rest of his career, Durando adds. “I would love it,” Jokic said, “just because it’s so good when you know who you’re playing with. He cannot really surprise me. I know what he can do. So the experience of playing probably 10 years definitely helps. But I don’t want to change him, if they ask me.”
- Damian Lillard‘s victory at the three-point contest — his third title in four years — doesn’t mean he’ll attempt to come back from his torn Achilles this season, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “I think if this was five years ago, I probably would have won this competition and been like, ‘I think I can get out there and go,’” the Trail Blazers guard said. “But I think I’m also at an age and time of my life where I recognize those emotions are not in my best interest. That’s kind of where it’s at.”
Thunder Notes: PPP, Topic, Williams, Boeheim
The NBA is looking at the Thunder for player absences in last Wednesday’s game against San Antonio, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort, and Alex Caruso all missed that nationally televised game after having played the previous night vs. Orlando. With the exception of Gilgeous-Alexander, who has remained sidelined due to an abdominal strain, the others were all back in action for the Thunder’s next game on Saturday.
If a team plans to sit a player for one game in a back-to-back set, the NBA typically wants it to happen during the game that isn’t nationally televised, so the league will consider whether Oklahoma City violated its player participation policy (PPP). However, besides SGA, none of those Thunder players meet the “star” criteria, and Rylan Stiles of SI.com suggests (via Twitter) that all their health issues were legitimate, so we’ll see if anything comes of the investigation.
Here’s more on the Thunder:
- After missing his entire rookie season in 2024/25 due to a torn ACL and then undergoing treatment for testicular cancer this past fall, Thunder guard Nikola Topic made his G League debut on Monday. In his first game for the Oklahoma City Blue, the 20-year-old Serbian had seven points and seven assists in 16 minutes off the bench. “Great accomplishment,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said, per The Associated Press. “Just can’t say enough about him as a guy, his mental toughness, maturity, resilience. … He hasn’t played a lot of basketball over the last two years, and he comes off a one-year rehab and immediately has a surprising diagnosis and goes through chemotherapy, three rounds of it. So for him to work himself back onto the court is just an unbelievable accomplishment, and we’re incredibly happy for him.”
- Jalen Williams‘ return following a 10-game absence due to a hamstring strain was a success, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. Williams scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma City secure a 119-110 road win over the Lakers. “He slammed the door on that game,” Daigneault said. “It was impressive. He’s got such a body of work that we’re not overly concerned with how he plays coming back. We’re just happy he’s back. … Obviously, he was huge tonight. We know he’s a big-time player.”
- Buddy Boeheim‘s new two-way contract with the Thunder will cover two seasons, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Boeheim joined the team last Friday, filling the roster opening created when the team waived Chris Youngblood, who had reached his 50-game limit.
NBA Announces Competitors For Slam Dunk, Shooting Stars All-Star Events
The Spurs‘ Carter Bryant, the Lakers‘ Jaxson Hayes, the Heat‘s Keshad Johnson and the Magic‘s Jase Richardson have been named the participants in the All-Star Slam Dunk competition, the league announced in a press release. It will be held next Saturday at the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome.
All four players will be making their event debuts. Richardson, a rookie guard, does have a familial connection with the contest. He is the son of two-time Slam Dunk champion Jason Richardson (2002 and 2003).
The league also announced the teams for the Shooting Stars competition on Saturday. Four teams of three – each featuring two NBA players and one NBA legend – will compete in the event.
- Team All-Star: Raptors star Scottie Barnes and Thunder big man Chet Holmgren will be joined by three-time All-Star Richard Hamilton.
- Team Cameron: Three Duke University alums will team up, with Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson and Hornets star rookie Kon Knueppel being joined by former 14-year NBA veteran Corey Maggette.
- Team Harper: Five-time NBA champion Ron Harper Sr. pairs up with his sons, Spurs guard Dylan Harper and Celtics swingman Ron Harper Jr.
- Team Knicks: Knicks teammates and All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns will team up with Allan Houston, who made two NBA All-Star teams and is now a member of New York’s front office.
The Shooting Stars will feature a two-round format, with all four teams competing in the first round and the top two advancing to the final round.
Teams will compete one at a time and have 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order. The team with the higher score in the final round will be crowned the champion.
Team Rosters For All-Star Game Revealed
The rosters for the three-team 2026 All-Star Game were revealed by the NBA on Tuesday night (Twitter link).
The USA Stars, coached by the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff, will be made up of the following eight players:
Scottie Barnes- Devin Booker
- Cade Cunningham
- Jalen Duren
- Anthony Edwards
- Chet Holmgren
- Jalen Johnson
- Tyrese Maxey
The USA Stripes, coached by the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, will have the following roster:
- Jaylen Brown
- Jalen Brunson
- Stephen Curry
- Kevin Durant
- LeBron James
- Kawhi Leonard
- Donovan Mitchell
- Norman Powell
The World team, coached by the Raptors’ Darko Rajakovic, will feature these nine players:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Luka Doncic
- Deni Avdija
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Nikola Jokic
- Jamal Murray
- Pascal Siakam
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Victor Wembanyama
The U.S. All-Stars were assigned to teams based on age, with the younger group placed on USA Stars and the older group placed on USA Stripes. Team World is composed of international players.
The format for the Feb. 15 event consists of a round-robin mini-tournament with four 12-minute games. The matchups are as follows:
- Game 1: USA Stars vs. World
- Game 2: USA Stripes vs. winning team of Game 1
- Game 3: USA Stripes vs. losing team of Game 1
- Game 4: Championship (top two teams from round-robin play)
If all three teams finish 1-1 after the round-robin games, the first tiebreaker will be point differential across each team’s two games.
Wembanyama, Thompson Named Defensive Players Of The Month
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama has been named the Western Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month for January, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
After missing a pair of games to open the month, Wembanyama suited up for San Antonio’s next 13 contests and averaged 8.2 defensive rebounds and 2.2 blocks per night — both of those figures ranked second in the Western Conference for January, per the league. While the Spurs posted a modest 7-6 record during those 13 games, their defensive rating during that stretch was 107.5, which ranked first among Western Conference teams.
The strong month has firmly placed Wembanyama back in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year, though he can’t afford to miss many more games if he wants to remain award-eligible. He has appeared in 35 of the Spurs’ first 49 games and must play in 30 of the last 33 to qualify for DPOY and other end-of-season honors.
Wembanyama was selected for the Defensive Player of the Month award over fellow Western Conference nominees Kris Dunn and Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, Thunder big man Chet Holmgren, and Rockets guard Amen Thompson (Twitter link).
Amen’s brother Ausar Thompson of the Pistons has been recognized as the Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for January, according to the league.
While he’s not a rim protector like Wembanyama, the Pistons wing wreaked havoc on the defensive end of the court last month by averaging a league-leading 2.4 steals per game, along with 4.2 deflections per game across 14 starts. Detroit went 10-4 in January and ranked first in the NBA with a 104.8 defensive rating.
The other Eastern Conference nominees for Defensive Player of the Month were Knicks forward OG Anunoby, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, Warriors center Alex Sarr, and Thompson’s teammate Isaiah Stewart, who won the award in December.
This is only the second season that the Defensive Player of the Month award has existed, but Wembanyama is a two-time winner, having also earned recognition for his defense in November 2024. It’s the first time Thompson claimed the honor.
NBA Announces 2026 All-Star Reserves
The NBA has announced its 2026 All-Star reserves, revealing this year’s honorees on NBC ahead of the Knicks/Lakers matchup (Twitter links).
The following players will join the 10 All-Star starters the league announced on Monday, January 19.
Eastern Conference Reserves:
Guard: Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)- Guard: Norman Powell (Heat)
- Frontcourt: Jalen Johnson (Hawks)
- Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
- Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam (Pacers)
- Frontcourt: Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
- Frontcourt: Jalen Duren (Pistons)
The East will see three first-time All-Stars in Johnson, Powell, and Duren. Powell is averaging a career-high 23.0 points per game in his first season in Miami, while Johnson has emerged as one of the league’s most versatile point forwards on offense, averaging 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per night while hitting 36.0% of his threes. Duren is averaging 18.0 PPG and 10.7 RPG, and is the second-leading scorer on the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons.
Towns is having a down year from an efficiency standpoint but has managed to contribute in other ways, leading the NBA in rebounds per game (11.8) while scoring 20.0 points per game on 36.4% shooting from deep. He will join teammate Jalen Brunson, who was named a starter for the second straight year, while Duren will join running mate Cade Cunningham.
Western Conference Reserves:
- Guard: Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Guard: Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
- Guard: Devin Booker (Suns)
- Frontcourt: Chet Holmgren (Thunder)
- Frontcourt: Kevin Durant (Rockets)
- Frontcourt: Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers)
- Frontcourt: LeBron James (Lakers)
For the Western Conference, Murray, Holmgren, and Avdija are all first-time All-Stars. Murray had long been considered one of the league’s best players – if not the best – to never take part in the event, but will no longer hold that title. He’s having his best scoring (25.8 PPG) and play-making (7.4 APG) season as a pro, and has helped the Nuggets hold onto the No. 2 seed despite missing co-star and All-Star starter Nikola Jokic for 16 games.
Avdija has exploded for the Blazers this season, averaging 25.5 points per game (after scoring 16.9 PPG last season) while also contributing 7.2 RPG and 6.7 APG and leading Portland to what is currently a play-in spot.
Despite cooling off a bit since his scorching start, Holmgren is averaging 17.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.0 BPG and has anchored Oklahoma City’s dominant defense all season, especially while starting center Isaiah Hartenstein faced an extended absence due to a calf injury.
Booker was named to the team after leading the overachieving Suns to a 30-19 record — they’re currently percentage points behind the Lakers for the No. 6 spot in the West.
James was named to his 22nd consecutive All-Star team despite having a down year by his own standards. He is currently averaging 21.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 6.6 APG for the Lakers, who are 29-18 coming into tonight’s game against the Knicks.
The Lakers, Knicks, Thunder, Pistons, and Nuggets are the teams with multiple players represented.
Some notable players not to make this year’s All-Star team include Michael Porter Jr., Kawhi Leonard, Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Lauri Markkanen, Brandon Ingram, and Alperen Sengun — they’re among the top candidates to become injury replacements.
As Ian Begley of SNY notes (via Twitter), the NBA’s decision to include a USA versus World component requires at least eight international players. Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Jokic, Avdija, Murray, and Siakam will make up a majority of the World roster, but with starter Giannis Antetokounmpo injured, the league will need to decide whether Towns, who suits up for the Dominican Republic in international play, as well as Powell, who played with Jamaica last summer, will be considered international or American players, Marc Stein observes (via Twitter). Either way, an injury replacement will need to be named for the Eastern Conference.
Stein adds that the NBA will announce the official roster breakdowns on Tuesday (Twitter link).
Holmgren, Stewart Named Defensive Players Of The Month
A Thunder player has been named the Western Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month for a second consecutive time. After guard Cason Wallace won the award for October/November, big man Chet Holmgren has earned the honor for December, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
The Thunder, who entered December with a 20-1 record, have looked more mortal in recent weeks, winning nine of 13 games over the course of the month. However, they still posted the conference’s top defensive rating (106.2) in December, with Holmgren acting as the team’s anchor and rim protector.
Holmgren’s 2.0 blocks per game in December ranked second in the conference, while his 8.5 contested shots per game placed him seventh among Western players. Oklahoma City’s defense this past month was nearly six points per 100 possessions better when Holmgren was on the court (101.7) than when he wasn’t (107.6).
Clippers guard Kris Dunn and a trio of former Defensive Players of the Year – Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves), Draymond Green (Warriors), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies) – were also nominated in the Western Conference, per the league (Twitter link).
An unlikely winner claimed the Eastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month award for December, with Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart taking it home despite coming off the bench in 12 of his 13 games and averaging just 23.0 minutes per night during the past month.
Despite his limited role, Stewart ranked second in the East in blocks (2.2) and contested shots (9.4) per game, helping lead Detroit to a 9-4 record and the league’s third-best defensive rating (109.8) in December. The Pistons’ defensive rating with Stewart on the floor was 104.5, compared to 112.2 when he sat.
Knicks teammates OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, and Celtics guard Derrick White were the other nominees in the East. Notably, the Nets didn’t have a nominee despite posting the NBA’s best defensive rating (105.4) in December.