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What’s good, family. It’s Sykes, once again, here to usher you into tonight’s NBA action. But first, a word on All-NBA voting.
The All-NBA teams are officially out and, honestly, it feels like they got a lot right this year. The league’s All-NBA teams are made to capture who the best 15 players in the NBA are that given year. This year’s voting did that well and a lot of players are going to get paid because of that.
But one thing that did feel ridiculous? Joel Embiid being placed on the second team. There’s no question that Embiid was one of the best three players in the NBA this season. He deserved a first-team nod. But he didn’t make it, obviously, because Nikola Jokic is a center, too. And, as the league’s MVP, it was always likely he’d end up with a first-team spot.
That doesn’t mean Embiid didn’t deserve one, though. This is a clear flaw in the voting process that needs to be fixed. Jayson Tatum — who was snubbed because of position last year — has a solution.
It’s time to make the voting positionless. Tatum explained this to reporters during the Celtics’ shootaround on Wednesday.
“I think it should just be like the 15 best players. Obviously with some guys in a contract year, supermax deals involved, that’s tough. I’m sure that’s tough on the voters as well. So I think there’s a lot that could be changed in that area, in that regard.”
He’s right. If this is about the league’s 15 best players, there’s no way position should be involved in those discussions. Especially when potential max deals are involved.
