For as long as most of us can remember, the West has seemingly been the more dominant of the two NBA conferences. And thanks to a chart created by Sportico data reporter Lev Akabas, we can see just how true that is.
Posted Thursday after the league announced its 2023-24 All-NBA teams, Akabas showed that the Western Conference has had more All-NBA selections than the Eastern Conference in every season since 1998-99. The 2023-24 selections featured 11 players for the West compared to four for the East.
The Western Conference had more All-NBA players than the Eastern Conference for the 26th straight season ‼️ pic.twitter.com/AU8iuIh6Yu
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 23, 2024
The 11 Western Conference selections were the most in one season since 11 players from the conference made All-NBA in 2015-16. In a four-year stretch from 2012-13 to 2015-16, the West had at least 11 honorees each season.
Since 1999, the Eastern Conference has had at most seven All-NBA selections, which it hit most recently inn 2022-23. In total, only two Eastern Conference who made All-NBA last season made it again in 2023-24 — Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The West, meanwhile, had four players make All-NBA in 2023-24 who did so for the fourth straight season — LeBron James, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic. LeBron has made All-NBA every season since 2004-05, 14 times when he played in the Eastern Conference and six times since he has joined the Lakers.
2024 All-NBA teams will be announced tonight. For the first time ever, players who played fewer than 65 games were not eligible
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 22, 2024
That would have had a big impact on awards last year, when 5 of the 15 All-NBA players didn't hit that threshold pic.twitter.com/So32NjKdX5
The only Eastern Conference player to make All-NBA in each of the last five seasons is Antetokounmpo, who has made it each year since 2016-17.
Since 1999, Western Conference teams are 17-9 in the NBA Finals. Entering this year's playoffs, teams in the West had won seven of the last 10 league titles.
Here are the full 2023-24 All-NBA teams:
| Team | Player | All-NBA Selections |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, OKC Thunder | 2 |
| 1st | Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks | 5 |
| 1st | Jayson Tatum, SF, Boston Celtics | 4 |
| 1st | Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, Milwaukee Bucks | 8 |
| 1st | Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets | 6 |
| 2nd | Jalen Brunson, PG, New York Knicks | 1 |
| 2nd | Anthony Edwards, SG, Minnesota Timberwolves | 1 |
| 2nd | Kawhi Leonard, SF, Los Angeles Clippers | 6 |
| 2nd | Kevin Durant, PF, Phoenix Suns | 11 |
| 2nd | Anthony Davis, PF, Los Angeles Lakers | 5 |
| 3rd | Tyrese Haliburton, PG, Indiana Pacers | 1 |
| 3rd | Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors | 9 |
| 3rd | Devin Booker, SG, Phoenix Suns | 2 |
| 3rd | LeBron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers | 20 |
| 3rd | Domantas Sabonis, C, Sacramento Kings | 2 |
