Dyson Daniels, a guard for the Atlanta Hawks, has been named to the Kia NBA All-Defensive Second Team, the NBA announced today. Daniels, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2025, is just the sixth Hawk since the team’s move to Atlanta to earn All-Defensive Team honors in consecutive seasons and one of only two players in the NBA to earn an All-Defensive Team nod in each of the past two seasons, joining Rudy Gobert. In 76 games played this past season, all starts, Daniels averaged career highs in rebounds (6.8), including a career-best 4.4 defensive boards and 5.9 assists, in addition to 11.9 points and 1.96 steals in 33.2 minutes. He ranked second in the NBA in steals per game and led all Eastern Conference players in total steals (149). The fourth-year guard was one of only two guards to grab 500+ rebounds this past season (520), joining Houston’s Amen Thompson, and joined Hall-of-Famer Lou Hudson as the only other guard in franchise history to secure at least 500 boards in a single season. Daniels was one of three players in the league to tally at least 500 rebounds and 100 steals and was the first player since Paul George in 2018-19 to record at least 520 boards and 149 thefts in a season. From the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, the Australia native owned a defensive rating of 103.0, the best defensive rating amongst all Eastern Conference players who averaged at least 30.0 minutes per game over that time and the second-best amongst all players, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (102.9). Daniels helped to anchor Atlanta’s defense to an Eastern Conference-best 108.6 defensive rating post All-Star break, the second-best defensive rating in the league. Daniels recorded 314 total deflections during the 2025-26 season, the third-most in the NBA, while ranking second in total loose balls recovered (77) and defensive loose balls recovered (38). He owned a defensive field goal percentage of .465%, the third-best defensive field goal percentage amongst all guards (min. 1,000 DFGA). In the 2026 NBA Playoffs, Daniels totaled 37 rebounds and 11 steals in 6 games played, becoming the first Hawk to hit those marks over a six-game postseason span since Paul Millsap in 2015 and the first Hawks guard to do so since Mookie Blaylock in the 1997 playoffs, per Stathead. Since joining the Hawks in 2024-25, Daniels has tallied an NBA-best 378 total steals, becoming the first player in the NBA since Chris Paul from 2007-08 to 2008-09 to have at least 378 thefts over a two-season span.