MVP Embiid leads All-NBA 1st team; runner-up Jokic lands on 2nd team

Denver’sNikola Jokic now knows how Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid felt duringtwo previous NBA award seasons.

Second in theMVP race — but only second-team All-NBA.

Embiid—the newly crowned MVP —headlined the All-NBA teamunveiled Wednesday night. He was the first-team center, while Jokicwas the second-team pick at that position. It was a reversal of theresults from 2021 and 2022, when Jokic was MVP over Embiid, whothen had to settle for the second-team All-NBA center spot.

And thisshould be the final time such a quirk happens. Starting next year,the All-NBA team will no longer be broken down by position —meaning the presumed second-best player in the NBA one season, suchas Embiid in 2021 and 2022 and Jokic now, will not have to berelegated to second-team anything.

JoiningEmbiid on the first team were Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’sGiannis Antetokounmpo at forward, and Dallas’ Luka Doncic andOklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at guard.

On the secondteam along with Jokic were Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Boston’s JaylenBrown at forward, and Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Cleveland’sDonovan Mitchell at guard.

The thirdteam center was Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, with the Los AngelesLakers’ LeBron James — now a 19-time selection, extending hisrecord — and New York’s Julius Randle getting the forward spots andSacramento’s De’Aaron Fox and Portland’s Damian Lillard the guardselections.

Omitted thisyear after making it last year: first-teamer Devin Booker;second-teamers Ja Morant, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan; andthird-teamers Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Trae Young and PascalSiakam.

James is a13-time first-team, three-time second-team and now three-timethird-team pick. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbarwere all 15-time selections, tied for the second-most in NBAhistory.

The pickswere made by a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who coverthe NBA.

Antetokounmpowas the only unanimous selection this season as a first-teamer.Tatum got 92 first-team votes, Embiid got 87, Gilgeous-Alexandergot 63 and Doncic got 60.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Brown, Sabonis and Fox all madeAll-NBA for the first time. Embiid was first-team for the firsttime, while Butler made the second team for the first time afterfour appearances on the third team.

The leaguehas utilized the current format of picking three All-NBA teams, byposition — two guards, two forwards, one center on each — since1989. From 1956 through 1988, there were two teams picked byposition; from 1947 through 1955 there were two teams picked, butwith no regard for position.

More oftenthan not, the system works without a glitch. The top finalists forMVP typically have found their way onto the All-NBA first team.

But therehave been notable exceptions — often involving centers, who arevying for just the one All-NBA first-team spot instead of the twothat have been available to guards and forwards.

Embiid wassecond in the MVP race but only second-team All-NBA in the mostrecent two seasons. Other examples:

— 1994-95,MVP David Robinson got the first-team nod and runner-up ShaquilleO’Neal wound up as the second-team center pick.

— 1993-94,Hakeem Olajuwon won MVP and was first-team at center, whileRobinson was No. 2 in the MVP race and on the second team.

— 1976-77,Bill Walton was No. 2 in the MVP race, then second-team All-NBAbehind MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

— 1975-76,Bob McAdoo was second in the MVP race and didn’t even make All-NBA,with the center spots that season going to MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbarand third-place finisher Dave Cowens.

There havealso been some split votes, albeit none under the current votingmethods, where the MVP somehow didn’t make the All-NBA first team.It happened to Bill Russell in 1958, 1961 and 1962, and then toCowens in 1973.