The debates over Nikola Jokic vs. Joel Embiid for league MVP are still raging, but now that NBA award voting season has concluded, one of the strangest award votes of the year was finally revealed.
The 2022 All-NBA teams were named on Tuesday, with Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant named to the second team, his 10th overall All-NBA selection. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the only Nets player to receive an All-NBA vote.
The six guards to earn All-NBA honors were Luka Doncic and Devin Booker (first team), Ja Morant and Steph Curry (second team), and Chris Paul and Trae Young (third team).
ESPN’s Jalen Rose gave his vote to the first five of those players listed, but instead of picking Young, or other stars such as Donovan Mitchell or Mikal Bridges, Rose voted Kyrie Irving among the top-6 guards of the year in the NBA.
There’s little doubting that Irving was a dynamic and productive offensive player when available for the Nets this season. He averaged 27.4 points per game, tied with Morant, and posted a 21.49 player efficiency rating, which was slightly ahead of Booker’s mark.
The issue, however, is whether Irving’s offensive brilliance in just 29 appearances make up for the numerous other issues on his resume. With Irving on the floor, the Nets had a defensive rating of 117.4. The team with the worst defense in the league, the Houston Rockets, posted a 116.4 for the season.
Irving’s offensive production also didn’t lead to sustained team success. In his 29 games, the Nets posted a losing record of 14-15, which included a losing streak of eight games in which Irving started. One could also argue that Irving’s long absences, which even he admits caused a distraction for his teammates, should be held against him.
It’s hard to explain Rose’s vote, but he surely will be asked to on an ESPN show this week, and that may be the point. A surprise vote such as this can be fodder for daytime television segments across Get Up, First Take and Rose’s own Jalen & Jacoby show, so why not raise some eyebrows with a low-value pick that won’t really affect the outcome?
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