The All-NBA teams were announced on Thursday. However, some voter trolled the process and tried to put LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard on the second team.
On Thursday afternoon, the three All-NBA teams for the 2016-17 NBA season were announced. While small markets like Indianapolis and Salt Lake City are a little sad about Paul George and Gordon Hayward not making the third team, two absolute travesties happened in the voting process.
Somebody didn’t take their voting privilege seriously. While it is hard to argue about removing any of the five that made the first team, at least three of the players should have been unanimous selections. Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden got 100 first-place votes, like he should have.
So what’s the reason that Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James and San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard weren’t unanimous either? Some people would argue that Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook should have been unanimous as well. However, there was some excellent guard play this season. Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and Washington’s John Wall were at times in the MVP conversation. A second team vote for Westbrook is silly, but not as outrageous as leaving LeBron or Kawhi off the first team.
Someone must have been playing a hilarious joke. There’s no other way to explain it.
Picking Anthony Davis as the center was strange, but understandable. A first-team selection for a guy that has never won an NBA playoff game, sure, why not? So how on Planet Earth did this happen. We have to blame two things: 1.) The Golden State Warriors and 2.) The ballot itself.
Warriors small forward Kevin Durant did not deserve a first-place vote at either forward spot. He joined a super team, got hurt, and the super team he joined won 14 games in a row without him. Whomever gave him a first place vote this year doesn’t need to vote next year. James and Leonard were two of the four best players this season, without hesitation.
The balloting itself has some issues. Did Warriors big man Draymond Green deserve some first place votes? Absolutely, as he should win 2016-17 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The problem is what position he plays: power forward or center? Green only received four first-place votes, indicative of voter paralysis about the position question.
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The guard play this year was tremendous. However, this was not the best year for forwards. There were only two choices to put on the All-NBA first team: James and Leonard. That’s it. Not giving them a first-place vote this year will be like Derek Jeter not getting into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the first unanimous selection. Sometimes democracy just gets in the way…