Today the NBA released it’s three All-NBA teams for the 2018 season. The selections were highlighted by two unanimous choices in Lebron James and James Harden on the first team. Joining James and Harden on that first team are Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Durant. It is a record 12th first-team selection for Lebron who has made an all-NBA team 14 times. It is also Hardens 4th, Davis’s 3rd, Durant’s 6th and Lillard’s 1st appearance on the first-team.
The two unanimous choices could very well be 1 and 2 in MVP voting. Harden is widely expected to win that award, after leading the Rockets to a franchise record 65 wins and averaging 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds all while co-running the offense with Chris Paul. LeBron also had a typically impressive season, averaging 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists on a 51 win Cleveland Cavalier team.
The second team consists of Giannis Antetokoumpo, Russell Westbrook, Joel Embiid, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, all players who made the playoffs but have since been eliminated. Some may be surprised that Giannis missed out on the first team after averaging 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. Lack of wins probably held him back.
The third team boasts Stephen Curry, Victor Oladipo, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler and Paul George. Both Towns and George have been featured in varying off-season rumors, and it is possible that the two third-teamers will be playing for new teams come Fall 2018.
The list of those who received votes but didn’t receive enough to qualify for one of the teams speaks to the immense quality of the league right now. Players like Chris Paul, Rudy Gobert, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Al Horford, Donovan Mitchell and Nikola Jokic all received votes. In many past seasons, those guys would all have had seasons good enough to make at least the third team, possibly even the second team.
For the full list, with vote totals and other info, can be found here