Khris Middleton missed an All-NBA selection because of outdated positional designations

Khris Middleton was robbed of an All-NBA selection.

One of the more puzzling omissions from the recently announced All-NBA teams was Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton, while players like Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons and Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook making the team raised a few eyebrows. Middleton’s snub was not related to his performance, but rather a weird quirk in the voting.

Middleton received more votes than Simmons and Westbrook did, but he was ultimately excluded from the list because his votes were split between the forward and guard positions, giving him an insufficient amount of votes in both categories.

Khris Middleton was the second-best player on a very talented Milwaukee team in 2019-20

Assuming that they’ve found their Michael Jordan in Giannis, Milwaukee signed Middleton to an eye-watering five-year contract in the offseason to serve as his Scottie Pippen. Middleton rewarded their faith in him by setting as new personal best in points (20.9), rebounds (6.2) and assists (4.3) per game while helping Mike Budenholzer’s Bucks take home the East’s top seed.

Only in NBA awards voting could the second-best player on the team with the No. 1 seed in the east lose out to two guards who can’t shoot on disappointing teams due to a weird quirk in how he is classified as a player. Basketball is becoming kore positionless with each passing day, so holding players to an arbitrary, self-imposed restriction when it comes time to vote on the All-NBA teams makes no sense.

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Middleton’s numbers might look a bit more ordinary than some of his contemporaries, but his role on one of the NBA’s best teams can’t be overlooked. Instead of getting his deserved All-NBA selection, Middleton has been shut out due to archaic position restrictions that make the voters seem unwilling to change.