Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, the centerpieces of the teams competing in the breathtaking Western Conference finals, were both named to the All-NBA First Team on Sunday.
The NBA announced the three All-NBA teams on NBC before Game 4 of the series between the Thunder and the Spurs.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named MVP for the second consecutive year earlier this week, made All-NBA for the fourth straight year. All of his appearances have been on the First Team. He is looking to join Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players to win both MVP and Finals MVP in the same years, back to back, since the latter award was first handed out in 1969.
Wembanyama, already revealed as the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and the only unanimous All-Defense First Team pick, made his first All-NBA team. He was not eligible last year, as he fell short of the 65-game threshold. Denver’s Jamal Murray, Detroit’s Jalen Duren, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson also made their first All-NBA teams, all making the Third Team.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama were joined on the First Team by Denver’s Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham. This is Jokić’s sixth First Team spot and his eighth consecutive All-NBA appearance, the longest active streak in the league. Both he and Gilgeous-Alexander were unanimous First-Team selections, with Wembanyama winding up on the Second Team on one ballot.
Both Dončić and Cunningham were eligible to be named after winning “extraordinary circumstances” challenges they made to the league at the end of the year. Dončić played 64 games, missing two when he returned to Slovenia for the birth of his daughter. Cunningham also played 64, missing 11 because of a collapsed lung.
Anthony Edwards, who played 60 games, also made a challenge, but was denied.
Kevin Durant made his 12th All-NBA appearance, the most among this year’s honorees, winding up on the Second Team. Boston’s Jaylen Brown, the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and New York’s Jalen Brunson joined him.
This was just the second time James did not make an All-NBA team. James played only 60 games, so was not eligible for a spot. He also missed in his rookie season, when he finished eighth in voting among forwards, with only the top six getting spots.
Multi-time All-NBA players such as Edwards, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum also fell short of the 65-game threshold.
