Every year, the All-NBA team comes out, recognizing the three best players at every position that season. Over the last few years, it's moved closer to ranking the six best guards and nine best big guys, separating them into All-NBA first, second and third teams. The latest CBA made it even more important to get on an All-NBA team as it actually impacts players in their wallet. Missing out on an All-NBA team might cost a player tens of millions of dollars on their next extension.
And every year, we see interesting names on the All-NBA list. DeMar DeRozen made the All-NBA second team in 2022. So did Ja Morant. Does that surprise you? How about LaMarcus Aldridge making it while he was on the Spurs? Even Andrew Bynum made an All-NBA second team recently.
There are dozens of examples of wild names on the All-NBA teams from top to bottom, but we're looking for those names on the first team that had us scratching our heads collectively. Who made the top five in the league that surprised us then and downright shocks us now?
2015-16 DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
On Oct. 24, 2012, the NBA removed the center position from the All-Star Game, and things changed in how we see positions for good. Before then, we saw the league as point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards, and centers. Today, everything is gray. However, centers were still added as All-NBA honorees for years later, and that's how DeAndre Jordan got this feat in 2016.
Jordan’s selection was bizarre, even considering centers. He averaged less than 13 points per game while DeMarcus Cousins averaged 29.6 points for the Sacramento Kings. That doesn’t even consider that Kevin Durant and Paul George were forced to fall to the second and third teams, respectively. Jordan was given this honor because of his position. He's lucky, to say the least.
This might be one of the worst picks as an All-NBA first teamer in history. The voters will make all kinds of excuses, like Jordan was an elite defensive center, or the numbers didn’t showcase his impact. However, at the end of the day, voters put Jordan in the position because they didn’t really like Cousins, and they didn’t have the courage to make Draymond Green the center that season, despite him playing plenty at the position in clutch lineups for the Warriors.
2013-14 Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
Same thought here with Joakim Noah in 2013. Voters didn’t know how to handle the changing positions, and we had a few bad examples of All-NBA players. This one might be the most egregious. Noah was a good player, but he played a very specific style of game that definitely wasn’t the fifth-best anything in the league.
Dwight Howard was on the Houston Rockets, so he didn’t get the first-team distinction. Kevin Love and Blake Griffin both put up superstar numbers and should be remembered for their contributions that season. Neither Love nor Griffin ever made the All-NBA first team, so Noah’s honor actually removed them from history forever.
Noah finished the 2013-14 season with 12.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, along with 5.4 assists. It’s a fine season for a player that’s as tough and intimidating as Noah, but is it one of the five best in the league? There’s no way anyone can argue this. Noah made the team because he was a center and for no other reason. He did win the Defensive Player of the Year award, so that's definitely part of the argument, we suppose, but there are better players overall. Good for him getting the award, but Love and Griffin were both robbed.
1995-96 Penny Hardaway, Orlando Magic
We’re starting to get into the players who definitely deserved it, but they had such a “flash in the pan” existence in the NBA that many who are getting into basketball might not realize how good these players were. Penny Hardaway actually made TWO All-NBA teams, but by 1999, he was no longer the same player. He looked like he was going to be an all-time great, but injuries ruined that possibility.
Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal were one of the great one-two punches in history. Some argue they were even better than Shaq and Kobe Bryant at O’Neal’s next stop with the Lakers. With the Magic, Hardaway scored 20 points per game for three-straight season in an era where that was impressive. The 1990s weren’t exactly an era of 50-point performances on a nightly basis.
Hardaway hasn’t made it into the Hall of Fame despite the short-term dominance (and the relative ease with which we’ve seen others make the Springfield museum). He really fell off the map pretty quickly, as the injuries caught up quickly, and he fell out of the national lexicon. You’ll still see him referenced every so often, but his stardom is fading into nothing, and many might be looking up who “Anferne” Hardaway is when looking at former award winners.
1993-94 Latrell Sprewell, Golden State Warriors
Latrell Sprewell had an incredible career that was a rollercoaster ride, culminating in him earning a reputation as a trusted veteran who drew leadership opportunities for younger teams seeking direction. That would sound insane in 1994. This is a player that reportedly choked his head coach in 1997. But he had superstar potential with the Warriors, and the connection with Chris Webber was an immediate upgrade for everyone involved.
Sprewell took advantage of that rookie season of Webber, and it led to an All-NBA distinction. He had 21 points per game that season, and just under five assists and five rebounds. The guard position wasn’t great at this time. Forwards were much better, including Charles Barkley and Shawn Kemp, and David Robinson, falling to the second team despite putting up almost 30 points and 11 rebounds on the season.
Today, we look at Sprewell as the player who helped the New York Knicks reach their last NBA Finals in 1999 and contributed to the Minnesota Timberwolves' best shot at winning alongside Kevin Garnett. But for a short time in the early 90s, he was one of the best young guards in the league. He didn’t hit that ceiling, but he does have this one All-NBA distinction.
1991-92 Chris Mullin, Golden State Warriors
When Chris Mullin played with Sprewell and Webber in 1993-94, he was the team’s third banana. Out of nowhere, he went from the top guy to an added cog in the machine. And it wasn’t like the Warriors were a championship-level team. Mullin was not Chris Bosh taking the third-wheel role happily. He saw his team go from his to a young squad looking for the right place to have him.
Mullin was leading a mediocre Warriors team in the early 1990s. He made five straight All-Star teams, but he was always a volume shooter who made his name as a player with unlimited motor and the confidence of a movie star. He shot the ball a ton, and in 1991-92, he scored a ton. He finished the season with 25.6 points per game on 19 shots per game.
Today, Mullin is still remembered as one of the greatest college players in history. He was a superstar in the Big East back when that meant something. His run at St. John’s is still the stuff of legend. Mullin has a place in basketball history, but because of how things worked out in Golden State, he never got the chance to grow into a top-level star. He does have the 1991-92 season where he was considered a star.
1982-83 Sidney Moncrief, Milwakee Bucks
As we get further and further away from Y2K, the less some of these players are remembered. We’re sure there are some who say they’ve never heard of the likes of George Gervin or Paul Westphal, but that’s not the value of this list. We want everyone to look at the names on this list, and react like “Oh right, he did make it,” or, “Wait, there’s no way Sidney Moncrief made first team All-NBA, right?”
Moncrief was an incredible player. He was a five-time All-Star, made some level of All-NBA team five times, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and he had his number four retired by the Milwaukee Bucks, but he seems to have fallen by the wayside when it comes to NBA lore. Moncrief doesn’t come up in conversations when talking about the best of his or any era.
Moncrief’s entire career, and likely his life, would be different if Jerry West got his way. The NBA legend was in the Lakers’ front office, and he wanted to draft Moncrief. The stars in Los Angeles stand the test of time. The stars in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, don’t have such luck. It also might be why Moncrief only made one All-NBA first team despite his great run in the early to mid-80s.
1981-82 Gus Williams, Seattle Supersonics
Gus Williams is another player with a very interesting story that we just don’t hear much about. He finally grew into a great player in 1980. He finished on the second team All-NBA and in the top six for MVP voting. Then, he disappeared for an entire year. Williams’ contract holdout with the Seattle Supersonics basically ruined his legacy. Honestly, we’re shocked he made the All-NBA team when he did.
Williams was given $3 million to return for the 1981-82 season, and he was amazing. He won Comeback Player of the Year and was named first team All-NBA after putting up a career high 23.4 points. Williams became the star after he got the big contract, which is historically a rarity. He earned the paycheck.
He remained quite good for the remainder of his career, but he never reached the peak he achieved the year after his holdout. It makes us wonder if he would be just as good in the holdout year, which came two years after he helped the Sonics win their only championship (we are not counting this Thunder championship as a Seattle holdover). Still, the holdout really impacted how we think of him in terms of the legacy of basketball. Maybe if basketball stayed in Seattle, things would be different. It’s possible that making the Hall of Fame would change our thinking. Unfortunately, that’s all out the door now.
1978-79 Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
Marques Johnson came into the NBA with a ton of hype, and he was pretty good for most of his career. After winning more accolades than we can count at UCLA, Johnson was the third-overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks. He played seven productive years there, but his best statistically was in 1978-79. He was third in scoring across the league, putting up 25.6 points per game. He was considered one of the best young scorers in the league.
Johnson was one of the secondary stars in the league, but again, he played in Milwaukee. He was probably at the same level of someone like Jimmy Butler or Tyrese Halliburton prior to this year’s Finals run. He elevated the Bucks to contention yearly outside of 1979, ironically. He wasn’t able to get that team to the playoffs.
Would Johnson be lauded more in a different market? Probably, and that might have something to do with his impact once he was sent back to LA, where he had done his damage for the Bruins. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 1984, but his impact was muted. He did make one more All-Star team and won Comeback Player of the Year while with the Clippers, but he did not do enough in the second half of his career to make the Hall of Fame.
1977-78 Truck Robinson, New Orleans Jazz
Truck Robinson is considered by many to be the most bizarre All-NBA selection in history. During the 1977-78 season, he had a league-high 15.7 rebounds per game and 22.7 points per game. His numbers said he should have been an All-NBA player, which actually adds to the intrigue. Robinson pretty quickly got worse once he left New Orleans a year after his All-NBA selection.
He earned the nickname “Truck” from his play style, which was bruising and fit well with the overall style of the NBA. He was as strong as anyone on the court, and that allowed him to overpower his opponents. That’s how he won so many rebound battles in New Orleans. He was as motivated as ever in the Big Easy, and it showed in the results.
Unfortunately for Robinson, New Orleans was not winning with him. They eventually traded him to the Phoenix Suns for a haul, which included two first-round picks. Robinson never played as well as he did in New Orleans. Injuries caught up to him, and the effort wasn’t as high as it was during his prime. Robinson was then traded to the Knicks, which was a disaster. The fans turned on him, and he eventually retired after two disappointing years in New York.
1959-60 Gene Shue, Detroit Pistons
The All-NBA team goes all the way back to a time when it wasn’t even the NBA. They were choosing these teams from the start of the Basketball Association of America in 1947. We’re not adding Max Zaslofsky from the Chicago Stags or Bones McKinley of the Washington Capitols, but we felt it deserves a mention since those teams are mostly lost in history. Another player lost in history is Gene Shue.
He has the interesting distinction of sharing an All-NBA lineup with one of the greatest collections of talent ever. He took one of the guard positions in 1960, with the other guard position going to Bob Cousy. Wilt Chamberlain got the nod at center, while Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor got the nod for the forward spots. Shue being a guard allowed him to be chosen over the likes of Bill Russell.
Funny story about Shue, he was apparently traded six games in his career because he told the Philadelphia Warriors owner that his paycheck was $10 short. After time with the Knicks, he went to Detroit, where he became a legend. Many don’t know the impact he still has on today’s game, but the weaving ability of point guards started with him. Instead of being pure distributors, Shue showed that guards could dribble around defenders and make them miss. However, he doesn’t get that just credit, so he ends up on a list like this.