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Austin Rivers goes off on Jaden McDaniels' All-Defense snub
USA TODAY Sports

Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels finished sixth in voting among forwards for this season's All-Defensive Team and his teammate Austin Rivers is pissed.

On his latest Off Guard podcast the Wolves guard blasted the voters for leaving McDaniels off the list.

"The defensive team was a joke," said Rivers. "Not only is it insane, it's wrong. They're wrong."

You can listen to the full Austin Rivers rant starting at the 1:03:40 in the embed below.

"First off, he's a top two or three defender in the NBA, for perimeter. It's not even up for debate," Rivers continued. "Anybody who knows basketball, who watches basketball, would say the same exact thing. I'm not even saying this because he's my teammate. Jaden McDaniels is literally one of the best defenders in the NBA. So, first team, ok, maybe I get it. Not anything?! Did you look at the list of the guys they have on the defensive team? Half of them don't even f***ing play defense!"

When asked by his co-host Pausha Haghighi about Memphis forward Dillon Brooks making second team All-Defense, Rivers said: "Dillon Brooks plays his ass off. He plays hard and he's a good role player... Do I think he's a better defender than Jaden McDaniels? Are you out of your f***ing mind?"

"He guards one through four, he's sixth...," continued Rivers "You should see the s**t he does to some of the best players in the league. He'll take them totally out of their game. Man give me a break."

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When asked about Bulls guard Alex Caruso making first team All-Defense over McDaniels, Rivers said: "I like Alex Caruso man. Alex Caruso is not a better defender than Jaden McDaniels. There's not a person, there's not a coach in the NBA that would disagree with me."

"I like Caruso. I think he's a good role player, he's proven that for years. I think he's a good defender too. Caruso can slide them feet. Good defender. Is he better than Jaden McDaniels? Absolutely not. It doesn't even have to do anything with Caruso. He just doesn't have the god-given ability that Jaden has. Jaden McDaniels is, like, 6-foot-10 with a, I don't even know what his wingspan is, it's gotta be seven foot. He is an absolute nightmare on defense. I've seen him take the most dominant players in the NBA totally out of their game. Too many of them. They call him Jaden 'Seatbelt' McDaniels."

"For him to not get on the defensive team, they got it wrong. I'm not surprised, they usually do. Caruso can defend. Dillon Brooks can defend. They're not better than Jaden McDaniels on defense. And every coach and scout in the NBA that watches players would tell you that," he concluded.

This article first appeared on FanNation Bring Me The Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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