Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Leads All-NBA Teams
NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder led the league’s All-NBA teams, announced Friday night, marking the close of the annual season awards.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who received the league’s top individual honor on Wednesday night, was joined on the All-NBA first team by the five players who finished at the top of the MVP voting: Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers).
For Gilgeous-Alexander, whose team, the Thunder, leads 2-0 in the Western Conference finals over the Minnesota Timberwolves, this is his third consecutive selection to the All-NBA first team, and his third overall. Jokic, runner-up for MVP after winning it three of the last four years, has been selected to seven All-NBA teams in his career, including five first-team selections. Antetokounmpo has achieved seven consecutive first-team appearances, and has nine All-NBA selections overall, while Tatum has made four consecutive first-team appearances and five All-NBA teams in total.
Mitchell, on the other hand, made his first appearance on the All-NBA First Team, and his second overall appearance, after leading the Cavaliers to 64 wins, the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The second team included Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), and Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks).
It was the first All-NBA appearance for Mobley, who won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in these playoffs, while it was the 21st appearance for James, a record that extends his legacy, surpassing by six times Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, who are tied for second place with 15 appearances.
Curry is now one of the 22 players with at least 11 All-NBA selections in history, while both Edwards and Brunson have achieved two appearances in their careers, as they try to lead their respective teams to the NBA Finals.
The third team included Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks), James Harden (LA Clippers), and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers).
It was the eighth appearance for Harden, and the first since the 2020 season, when he was still playing with the Houston Rockets. It was the third appearance for Haliburton and Towns, rivals in the Eastern Conference finals, while it was the first time for Williams and Cunningham.
The inclusion of Cunningham on the team means that he will now receive a five-year, $269 million contract starting next season, after signing a maximum extension with the Pistons last fall. That was approximately $45 million more than he would have earned otherwise. Mobley would have also received that same increase if he had not qualified for it by winning the Defensive Player of the Year award.
This was the ninth and final end-of-season award voted on by the international panel of 100 voters. The others, along with the All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams, were: Defensive Player of the Year (Mobley), Clutch Player of the Year (Brunson), Most Improved Player (Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks), Sixth Man of the Year (Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics), Coach of the Year (Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Rookie of the Year (Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs).
