With the 2022-23 regular season now behind us, it's time to take a hard look at which 15 players should be named to the league's three All-NBA teams.
This season's ballot poses a unique problem for two reasons. First, there is more talent and parity than there ever has been in the league. More than 40 players averaged at least 20 points per game on this year's official leaderboard. Ten years ago, that number was nine.
Second, there will be a debate on how much availability should matter in these awards. Many of the top players fell short of 65 games played. That number is relevant because, once the league's new collective bargaining agreement goes into effect, that will be the minimum requirement in order to qualify for an All-NBA team.
I think that the 65-game cutoff is a bad rule. It's too high of a bar to clear and an unnecessary restriction on voters. Based on that rule, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James would be considered ineligible for two consecutive years. All three have been elite players during that time period, and Curry willed his team to a title last season.
With the explanation that games played matters to me, but less than it does to the NBA rule-makers, here is who I think should make the All-NBA teams this season.
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All-NBA First, Second and Third Team guards
- First Team: Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Second Team: Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry
- Third Team: Damian Lillard, De'Aaron Fox
Guard was the toughest position to nail down by far. There will be snubs.
Doncic was my first pick. His team's lack of success was disappointing, but he finished second in the league in scoring and sixth in assists. The Mavs had the sixth-best offense in the league because of how well they played through him.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the No. 2 guard in the league. Behind his exceptional play, the Thunder massively outperformed their preseason expectation of 23.5 wins, per Basketball Reference.
They were built around his slithering drives to the basket, as he ranked first in the league in that category. He became one of the best offensive players on the planet, averaging 31.4 points per game. He also improved his defense from below average to solid.
My Second Team guards are Mitchell and Curry. Mitchell's 71-point explosion was the signature highlight of a dominant year for him. He played a ton of minutes and also drastically improved his defense for the fourth-seeded Cavs.
Curry missed a lot of games, but he was electric when he played. His 3-pointer, which took an unusual dip last season in percentage (38.0), is totally back to the typical Curry level (42.6).
Lillard and Fox grab the last two spots. Lillard also missed a ton of time and was held out of his team's last stretch of games. It seems unfair to punish him for the Trail Blazers' inability to build a team around him, especially when he was the best offensive player in the league in many metrics like estimated plus-minus (EPM) and had the best season of his career.
Fox is the heavy favorite for the Clutch Player of the Year award and a massive reason why the Kings finally clinched a playoff spot after a 16-season drought.
Biggest snubs: Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, DeMar DeRozan, Anthony Edwards, Darius Garland, Tyrese Haliburton, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Ja Morant
All-NBA First, Second and Third Team forwards
- First Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum
- Second Team: Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler
- Third Team: Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James
The selections for First Team forwards are the easiest on this ballot. Antetokounmpo will likely finish third in MVP voting. He is the league's best two-way player, and he led the Bucks to the best record in the league.
Tatum's Celtics landed right behind the Bucks in the standings. He played a ton of minutes, and he led the NBA in total points scored.
Durant missed more than 30 games this season, which is obviously a lot. But when he's healthy, he's still a top-five player in the league. He's unstoppable from every spot on the floor, and he graded out as a positive defender via EPM.
Butler and Leonard were neck-and-neck as the fourth-most impactful players in the league via EPM. Both are still hugely talented defenders and hyper-efficient offensive engines. Leonard was a top-five player in the league after the calendar flipped to 2023, while Butler was more consistent and played in more games.
James gets the last spot. Father Time is finally starting to catch up to him. After averaging over 74 games played in his first 17 seasons, he hasn't been able to break 60 in his last three.
But when he's healthy, the passing acumen is still there, as is his unstoppable transition play. His averages of 28.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game were plenty good enough to get him onto the Third Team.
Biggest snubs: Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen, Julius Randle, Pascal Siakam
All-NBA First, Second and Third Team centers
- First Team: Nikola Jokic
- Second Team: Joel Embiid
- Third Team: Domantas Sabonis
You could flip a coin as to who should get the First and Second Team spots between Jokic and Embiid. They were the two best players in the league during the regular season, and their teams finished with virtually identical records.
Embiid is certainly a better defender than Jokic, but Jokic is more impactful on offense and played in more games. That's the tiebreaker for me. It's hard to go against Jokic when he nearly averaged a triple-double and shot 63.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent on 3-pointers.
Embiid wasn't exactly a slouch on offense, though. He racked up 101 points in 24 hours, and he once again led the league in scoring. He was also the anchor of the No. 8 defense in the NBA.
The last spot goes to Sabonis. The Kings ran a ton of offense through his dribble handoffs. He acted as a sort of quarterback for them, and he was a big reason why they had the best offensive rating of all time.
Per Stathead, he became just the fourth player to average at least 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists per game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Jokic.
Biggest snubs: Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Kristaps Porzingis
Final All-NBA ballot
| Position | First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Luka Doncic | Donovan Mitchell | Damian Lillard |
| Guard | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Stephen Curry | De'Aaron Fox |
| Forward | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Kevin Durant | LeBron James |
| Forward | Jayson Tatum | Jimmy Butler | Kawhi Leonard |
| Center | Nikola Jokic | Joel Embiid | Domantas Sabonis |
