I know I said I would avoid breaking news stories at this juncture of the year apart from significant injuries, but this is just something that is too cool to overlook.
The Sixers had an elite defense all season (second in NBA with 107.6 defensive rating), and that's in no small part due to having a variety of long, athletic stoppers to throw at the opposition. So it should come as little surprise that they led the NBA in All-Defensive selections.
Ben Simmons earned the honor for the second time of his career. The versatile 6'10" point guard collected every single one of the 100 possible votes to make the first team. The only other player that can say that this season was Rudy Gobert, who Simmons finished as runner-up to in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Joining Simmons among Sixers starters was of course Joel Embiid, who earned a second team selection for the third time in his career. Embiid was also the only Sixer to earn a spot on an All-NBA team, snagging a second team selection there as well, also for the third time. The center that took home first team honors? Nikola Jokic, who also beat him out for MVP.
Finally, a relative newcomer to Awards season was Matisse Thybulle. The rangy 6'5" guard was voted to the All-Defensive second team despite averaging just 20.0 minutes per game and not even playing enough minutes to qualify for any statistical leaderboards. The sophomore has established himself as a gamebreaking playmaker on the less glamorous end, posting exceptional steal rates and staggering block metrics for a non-big. He's made a name for himself zooming around the half-court contesting every shot like his life depends on it. This will not be the only season in which he earns this honor.