Hawks guard Dyson Daniels achieved one of the goals he set out to achieve before the beginning of the season. On Thursday, the NBA named Daniels to its All-Defensive first team.
Daniels averaged a league-best 3.01 steals per game this season, becoming the first player to average more than three steals per game since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91.
A native of Bendigo, Australia, Daniels finished the season with 229 total steals, the most in a single season in Hawks history. That also is the most by any player in the NBA since Gary Payton in 1995-96 (231), a season in which Payton was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Daniels, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Cavalier center Evan Mobley, had 98 more steals than the next closest player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 131), the largest gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in NBA history.
Daniels, a two-time Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month, became the first player in the NBA to tally 200 or more steals and 50-plus blocks in a single season since Scottie Pippen in 1994-95. He’s the seventh player in the NBA to do so since 1973-74. He joins Pippen, as well as other Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Daniels had 284 total “stocks” this past season (steals and blocks), becoming the first guard to lead the league in total stocks since Jordan in 1987-88, when he earned Defensive Player of the Year.
Daniels recorded a league-best 442 total deflections during the 2024-25 campaign, the most deflections by any player since the NBA began tracking the statistic in 2015-16 and 167 more deflections than the next closest player this season (Keon Ellis: 275). Daniels owned an NBA-best 297 total stops (steals plus blocks plus offensive fouls drawn) and recovered 80 loose balls, the second most by any player in the league this season.
Daniels helped to bolster the Hawks’ defense last season, the sixth-best improvement by any team this season. He helped them improve their defensive rating from 118.4 in 2023-24 (the fourth worst in the NBA) to 114.8 (18th).
The Hawks guard joins Mobley, Thunder guard Lu Dort, Warriors big Draymond Green and Rockets wing Amen Thompson.
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