Time To Argue About The All NBA Team Selections!
Alright finally the All NBA teams are out so let's look at how things shook out because what better time to argue basketball on the internet than on an off day. Crazy snubs? Surprise selections? Let's dive in
First Team
- No real complaints here. Not sure how you could argue otherwise. These were easily the 5 best players in the league all season long
- It is pretty ridiculous that Luka is an All NBA First Team player in just his second season while he is only 21 years old. LeBron was also 21 when he made it. He was 21 years and 138 days. He has now been surpassed by Luka for youngest ever to make First Team
- Remember, this is a regular season thing. Doesn't matter that the Rockets and Bucks both choked.
Second Team
- To me, this is where our first bit of controversy comes in. I imagine there are a lot of Heat fans who are raging that Siakam made 2nd team over Butler, despite both coming in at the forward position. I get it, Butler is the better defender, passer, all that. There's also the recency bias of Siakam looking like dogshit in the second round compared to Butler looking like the best player in the bubble not named LeBron.
- As a Celtics fan, I have no problems Tatum not making second team. Doesn't even really bother me that Siakam made it over him either. Please credit me for being level headed and not bias.
- I will say Butler probably got screwed a little bit that he's factored in as a forward and not guard. This way they were able to fit Butler/Dame/Paul/Simmons/Westbrook all onto All NBA teams. If he was a guard, you have to cut one of those out.
Third Team
- Shoutout to Tatum for cementing himself as a top 15 player. This was always my stance when it came to Tatum and why I rejected people saying he was top 10. No no, you don't make 2nd Team All NBA you aren't a top 10 player imo. Having him 3rd team is fine by me and I'm just glad he made it after his great third season.
- No Joel Embiid eh? Thought he was the best center in the NBA or so I keep being told. I guess you could say his 17 fewer games than Gobert was an issue, but still interesting.
- Much like Siakam will, don't let Westbrook's brutal postseason impact how you view his season. He was AWESOME once the Rockets went to small ball. He had an All NBA caliber season even if it fizzled late.
- I also think Ben Simmons deserved his spot as well. One of the best defensive players in the entire league, pretty much puts up a triple double whenever he wants, great passer, this was a no brainer for me. Especially if they were going to treat Butler like a guard.
So who got snubbed? Well for me it comes down to a few guys
1. Bradley Beal
2. Khris Middleton
3. Bam Adebayo
4. Joel Embiid
Really leaving Beal off is tough. The dude was 2nd in the league in scoring at over 30 a game and he couldn't find his way on a team? First the All Star snub and now this. Khris Middleton also was like 1 shot away from a 50/40/90 season on a team that had the best record in the league. Maybe he makes it over Siakam or something?
Overall though these ended up how I think many expected them to. I'm of the belief that maybe they should release these before the playoffs but maybe I'm alone there.