Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic have all been named the All-NBA first team Players.
Today was the announcement of the Kia All-NBA teams for the 2022–2023 season:
- First-Team All-NBA selections include players from the Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.
- Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) were named to the All-NBA 2nd Team. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) was also named to the team.
- De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Julius Randle (New York Knicks), and Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) have all been named to the All-NBA Third Team.
Nikola Jokic of Denver now better understands how Joel Embiid of Philadelphia felt during the two previous NBA award seasons.
But he was only selected to the All-NBA second team after finishing second in the race for MVP.
The All-NBA team, which was revealed on Wednesday night, was highlighted by the newly crowned Most Valuable Player, Embiid. He was selected as the center for the All-NBA first team, while Jokic was chosen for the second team. It was a reverse of the results from 2021 and 2022 when Jokic was named MVP instead of Embiid, and Embiid was forced to settle for a spot on the second team of All-NBA centers.
This should be the last instance of a particular occurrence of this kind. The All-NBA team will no longer be divided into teams based on position beginning with the 2019–20 season. This means that a player regarded as the second-best player in the NBA during a given season, such as Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic presently, will no longer have to settle for a spot on the second team of anything.
FORWARD
In the forward position, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo were selected to join Embiid on the All-NBA first team. In the guard position, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were chosen to join Embiid.
On the second team alongside Jokic were forwards Jimmy Butler of Miami and Jaylen Brown of Boston; guards Stephen Curry of Golden State and Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland; and backcourt players Donovan Mitchell of Cleveland and Stephen Curry of Golden State.
Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings was selected as the squad’s third-team center. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Julius Randle of the New York Knicks were named to the forward positions. In contrast, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and Portland’s Damian Lillard were called to the guard positions. James has now been selected 19 times, which extends his record.
Devin Booker, who made the All-NBA first team last year but did not make the cut this year; Ja Morant, Kevin Durant, and DeMar DeRozan, who made the second team; Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young, and Pascal Siakam, who made the third team; and DeMar DeRozan, who made the third team.
James has been selected to the first team 13 times, the second team three times, and the third team three times. Each Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was selected for the All-NBA Team 15 times, which ties them to the second-most choices in the history of the NBA.
The decisions were decided by a group of one hundred journalists and broadcasters who cover the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Antetokounmpo was the only player to receive unanimous votes for a spot on the All-NBA first team this season. Doncic received 60 first-team votes, Embiid received 87, Gilgeous-Alexander received 63, and Tatum received 92.
First-time selections for All-NBA honors were made by Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis, and Fox, respectively. After four appearances on the third team, Embiid was selected for the first time to be on the All-NBA first team, and Butler was chosen for the first time to be on the second team.
Since 1989, the league has selected the All-NBA teams using the current method, which involves drafting three teams, one for each position: two guards, two forwards, and one center for each squad. Between 1956 and 1988, the players on each team were selected based on their position, but between 1947 and 1955, players were chosen without respect to their position.
Most of the time, there are no issues with the system’s operation. The leading contenders for Most Valuable Player have traditionally established themselves on the first team.
There have, however, been a few notable exceptions to this rule, the majority of which have involved centers. Unlike guards and forwards, who have been eligible for two spots on the All-NBA first team, centers are only eligible for one.
Embiid finished second in the race for NBA MVP but was only selected to the second team of All-NBA the past two seasons. Additional illustrations:
- In the 1994-1995 season, Most Valuable Player David Robinson was selected for the All-NBA first team, while runner-up Shaquille O’Neal was chosen as the center for the second team.
- Robinson finished in second place in the MVP voting and played on the second team during the 1993–1994 season, but Hakeem Olajuwon won the Most Valuable Player award and was named to the All-NBA first team at center.
- Bill Walton finished the 1976–1977 season ranked second in the MVP voting and on the second team of All-NBA, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won the award.
- The 1975–1976 season saw Bob McAdoo finish in second place for Most Valuable Player, but he was not even selected to the All-NBA team. Instead, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished in third place, and Dave Cowens, who finished in second place, received those honors.
There have also been instances of split votes, although none have occurred using the voting processes now in place, in which the MVP was not selected for the All-NBA first team. Bill Russell was affected by it in 1958, 1961, and 1962, and then Cowens was affected by it in 1973.
