We should have 9 All-NBA teams, not 3

Let's go back to the top 10% of the league getting honored.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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A Tale from the Decameron; John William Waterhouse; 1916

The All-NBA teams were announced on Thursday.

First Team
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid
Luka Doncic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jayson Tatum

Second Team
Nikola Jokic
Jimmy Butler
Jaylen Brown
Stephen Curry
Donovan Mitchell

Third Team
Domantas Sabonis
LeBron James
Julius Randle
De’Aaron Fox
Damian Lillard

There are always surprises, but this season there were no truly close misses. The most controversial omission — Ja Morant — was the closest miss among guards, followed by Jrue Holiday and Jalen Brunson. Among forwards, Lauri Markkanen was the biggest surprise omission (though again, not that close to Randle for the final forward spot) followed by Kevin Durant. Anthony Davis was the only other center with substantial support, though Bam Adebayo, Kristaps Porzingis (!) and Brook Lopez also received votes.

The biggest shocker to me is Luka getting a first team nod over Mitchell given that when votes were cast one of those dudes led a team that had missed the entire play-in and the other had the No. 4 seed in a tough conference.

In any case, a thought that I’ve had for the last several years is that having three All-NBA teams seems awful arbitrary. Why three? From 1946 until 1988, there were two All-NBA teams. In the pre-expansion days of an 8-team league with 12-man rosters, that meant that about 10% of the entire player base (10 out of 96 players) made an All-NBA team. That’s roughly the top 10% of the league — that’s a cool achievement and demarcator.

In 1988 the NBA expanded to three All-NBA teams … but had 27 NBA teams by that point. It has stayed with the three All-NBA teams now at 30 NBA teams with 15-man rosters. So there are up to 450 NBA players at any given time now, and 15 players make All-NBA — so it turns into the top 3.3% of the league. That’s extremely elite!

10% feels better, doesn’t it? This isn’t a participation trophy — you would need to be a top-45 player in the league to make 9th team All-NBA, and that’s still pretty exclusive. It just helps us take a wider stock of the season’s performances and, in the future, Remember More Guys. Some players and agents would really crow about a 6th team All-NBA performance, and should. Some fading stars would not recognize the honor.

As a part of this, the NBA could get more strict about which All-NBA nods grant contract hikes, or better yet, stop tying All-NBA status to contract limits altogether. This is not an argument to let 7th team All-NBA players get super-max contracts.

On positionality, I don’t want entire teams of guards or centers, so I will regrettably remain a traditionalist in this sense.

In any case, let’s name the official unofficial Good Morning It’s Basketball nine All-NBA rosters for the 2022-23 season.

First Team: Joel Embiid | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Jayson Tatum | Donovan Mitchell | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Second Team: Nikola Jokic | Jimmy Butler | Jaylen Brown | Stephen Curry | De’Aaron Fox

Third Team: Domantas Sabonis | Lauri Markkanen | LeBron James | Luka Doncic | Damian Lillard

Fourth Team: Anthony Davis | Kevin Durant | Julius Randle | Ja Morant | Anthony Edwards

Fifth Team: Brook Lopez | Jaren Jackson Jr. | Pascal Siakam | James Harden | Devin Booker

Sixth Team: Bam Adebayo | Kawhi Leonard | Paul George | Jalen Brunson | Tyrese Haliburton

Seventh Team: Kristaps Porzingis | Mikal Bridges | Draymond Green | Jrue Holiday | Trae Young

Eighth Team: Jarrett Allen | Aaron Gordon | DeMar DeRozan | Darius Garland | Kyrie Irving

Ninth Team: Nic Claxton | Evan Mobley | Kyle Kuzma | Zach LaVine | Desmond Bane

… and there you have it. Nine All-NBA teams, with good players (Fred VanVleet, a tough cut from 9th team All-NBA!) left over. I legitimately spent a couple minutes thinking about Al Horford vs. Nic Claxton for that ninth team All-NBA center spot. No Plumlees were harmed in this exercise.

Honestly, we could go 18 All-NBA teams deep without breaking a sweat. But again, this shouldn’t be a participation trophy. This is an appropriate amount of celebration for individual excellence in a team sport.

Alright, who are the snubs? Who are your top candidates for the honorable mentions?

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Scores

Heat 103, Knicks 112 (MIA leads 3-2) — The Knicks scored 14 points in the first quarter and won because the Heat offense can be real, real stodgy and because of this dude.

With the season on the line, Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes both played all 48 minutes. Quentin Grimes played 10 minutes the first game of this series (albeit coming off of a shoulder injury). He was picking up DNP-CDs a month into this season. And now Tom Thibodeau needs him out there all 48 minutes in an elimination game so he can do stuff like this.

I love that the Knicks really showed up. Tough as nails, after it all. It may not be enough against Miami, but it says something about the players.

Lakers 106, Warriors 121 (LAL leads 3-2) — This honestly felt a lot like Game 5 of the Lakers-Grizzlies series. The trailing team showed some real pride while still feinting at their likely fatal flaws. Stephen Curry again didn’t shoot well from deep (3/11) but he had some daggers in the second half.

This series isn’t over for a variety of reasons, including the Lakers’ tenuous relationship with consistency and the Warriors’ explosiveness. Adding to the Lakers’ trouble: Anthony Davis left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent head injury caused by a Kevon Looney elbow. Davis reportedly had to be pushed in a wheelchair as he struggled to walk.

That sounds like a legitimately bad concussion. We’ll see. Darvin Ham downplayed it in his media availability. Best wishes to AD. If you’re laughing at his injury or claiming he’s faking to work the refs, boo to you.

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Schedule

More basketball! No nights off. Both times Eastern.

Celtics at Sixers, 7:30, ESPN (PHI leads 3-2)
Nuggets at Suns, 10, ESPN (DEN leads 3-2)

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Be excellent to each other.