It’s a little strange to see the All-NBA Teams list and not see LeBron James on there. This is the first time in more than two decades that LeBron did not make an All-NBA Team (he didn’t play the minimum 65 games to qualify for the ballot).
Consider it another sign of the changing of the guard in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama — the reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year — led the list of players to be named to an All-NBA Team. Those 15 players were announced on Sunday. Here is how the voting shook out:
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All-NBA
First Team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
Nikola Jokic (Denver)
Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)
Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers)
Cade Cunningham (Detroit)
Second Team
Jaylen Brown (Boston)
Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland)
Kevin Durant (Houston)
Jalen Brunson (New York)
Third Team
Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia)
Jamal Murray (Denver)
Jalen Duren (Detroit)
Jalen Johnson (Atlanta)
Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City)
The team was voted on by a panel of 100 media members.
Notes and thoughts on this vote:
• There was a pretty steep drop-off between the players who made All-NBA and those who didn’t. Holmgren had the fewest points of any player on the teams, with 87 (eight second-team votes, 63 third-team votes). The next three players on that list (with their points): Portland’s Deni Avdija (26), New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns (14), and Toronto’s Scottie Barnes (9).
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• Avdija and Towns would have made the Third Team if Doncic and Cunningham had not been granted exceptions after falling short of the league’s 65-game rule. Also, that would have bumped Brown and Leonard up to First Team.
• Kevin Durant makes history as the first player ever to make an All-NBA team with five different franchises.
• The only players to unanimously make the First team were Gilgous-Alexander and Jokic.
• Victor Wembanyama was not unanimous, he had 99 first-team votes and one for the second team.
• Notable players who did not meet the 65-game threshold to qualify for All-NBA (besides LeBron) include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Edwards, and Stephen Curry.
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