Evan Mobley earned All-Defensive First Team in 2023 and 2025.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were established in 1970. During the course of their history, they have had three players be named All-Defensive First Team. Let’s highlight the performances that helped them earn the honor.
Evan Mobley – 2 Times (2023, 2025)
The Cavaliers selected Mobley with the third pick in the 2021 Draft. He finished in second place in Rookie of the Year voting, averaging 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 2021-22. The following season, he earned his first All-Defensive First Team selection by averaging 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks to go along with 16.2 points per game. He also finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
After injuries limited Mobley to 50 games in 2023-24, he averaged 31 minutes over 71 games in 2024-25. He made his first career All-Star team, averaging 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 1.6 blocks. He made All-Defensive First Team, All-NBA Second Team, finished 10th in MVP voting and won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Heading into the 2025-26 season, Mobley has averaged 16.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game for his career.
LeBron James – 2 Times (2009, 2010)
The Cavaliers selected James with the first pick in the 2003 Draft. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2003-04, averaging 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He went on to average at least 1.6 steals in each of his first 12 seasons in the NBA. In 2008-09, he averaged 1.7 steals to go along with 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. He was named All-Defensive First Team, finished second for the Defensive Player of the Year award, and won his first career regular season MVP award.
James continued his defensive prowess the following season, averaging 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. He also provided 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game while being named All-Defensive First Team, finishing fourth for the Defensive Player of the Year award and winning his second straight MVP. James played 849 regular season games across two stints with the Cavaliers, averaging 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks.
Larry Nance – 1989
Nance spent the first six seasons of his career with the Suns before being traded to the Cavaliers during the 1987-88 season. He racked up blocks in bunches with the Suns, averaging at least 1.7 rejections in five of his first six seasons. His first full season with the Cavaliers came in 1988-89 and he logged an average of 35 minutes over 73 games. He produced averages of 17.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on his way to being named an All-Star for the first time in his career. He also earned his lone career selection to the All-Defensive First Team. Across 433 career regular season games with the Cavaliers, he averaged 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.
