Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic now knows how Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers felt during two previous NBA award seasons: Second in the MVP race, but only second-team All-NBA.
Embiid, the newly crowned MVP of the 2022-23 season, headlined the All-NBA team unveiled Wednesday night. He was the first-team center, while Jokic was the second-team pick at that position. It was a reversal of the results from 2021 and 2022, when Jokic was MVP over Embiid, who then had to settle for the second-team All-NBA center spot.
And this should be the final time such a quirk happens. Starting next year, the All-NBA team will no longer be broken down by position — meaning the presumed second-best player in the NBA one season, such as Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic now, will not have to be relegated to second-team status.
Joining Embiid on the first team were Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks at forward, and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder at guard. Gilgeous-Alexander was a high school standout at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy before going on to Kentucky and then the NBA.
On the second team along with Jokic were Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and Boston’s Jaylen Brown at forward, and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers at guard.
The third-team center was Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings, with the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James — now a 19-time selection, extending his record — and Julius Randle of the New York Knicks getting the forward spots and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers the guard selections.
Omitted this year after making it last year: first-teamer Devin Booker; second-teamers Ja Morant, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan; and third-teamers Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young and Pascal Siakam.
James is a 13-time first-team, three-time second-team and now three-time third-team pick. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan were all 15-time selections, tied for the second most in NBA history.
The picks were made by a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the NBA.
Antetokounmpo was the only unanimous selection this season as a first-teamer. Tatum got 92 first-team votes, Embiid got 87, Gilgeous-Alexander got 63 and Doncic got 60.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis and Fox all made the All-NBA list for the first time. Embiid was a first-team selection for the first time, while Butler made the second team for the first time after four appearances on the third team.
The league has utilized the current format of picking three All-NBA teams, by position — two guards, two forwards, one center on each — since 1989. From 1956 through 1988, there were two teams picked by position; from 1947 through 1955 there were two teams picked, but with no regard for position.
More often than not, the system works without a glitch as the top finalists for MVP typically have found their way onto the All-NBA first team. But there have been notable exceptions, often involving centers vying for just the one All-NBA first-team spot instead of the two that have been available to guards and forwards.
There have also been some split votes where the MVP somehow didn’t make the All-NBA first team, albeit none under the current voting methods.