Tag: All-NBA First Team

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander en route to massive payday following All-NBA selection

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander en route to massive payday following All-NBA selection.

After two straight All-NBA First Team selections, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is en route to a massive payday soon.

The 25-year-old is now eligible for the supermax extension after he finished second in MVP this season. He was named on the All-NBA First Team in back-to-back years.

This shouldn’t be a shocker as he had a historic season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He averaged 30.1 points on 53.5% shooting, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 75 games this year.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to their first playoff series win since 2016 with a Round 1 sweep over the New Orleans Pelicans. OKC lost in six games to the Dallas Mavericks in Round 2.

This was the first of likely several playoff runs for the Thunder. OKC smashed open a championship window by being the youngest first seed in league history this year.

Gilgeous-Alexander can sign an extension in the 2025 offseason that can turn him into the first player in league history to earn $80 million in a single season. A supermax extension would be a four-year, $294.6 million deal, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

If Gilgeous-Alexander signs a new deal next offseason, he’d be under contract with the Thunder until the 2030-31 season, where he’d be 32 years old. This would be a massive accomplishment for OKC.

Gilgeous-Alexander is under contract for three more seasons with no opt-outs until the 2027 offseason. He’s set to earn $115 million during that span — a bargain of a deal considering the 25-year-old is one of the best players in the league and in the middle of his prime.

Considering that’s a ways away, there’s still so much unknown on how the next contract negotiations go between the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander.

At the very least, OKC will roster one of the best players in the league for the next three seasons at a value salary. Considering the rest of the roster is mostly on their rookie deals, this team could get very expensive very soon.

Alas, such is life for a championship contender. It’d be a justified price to pay for an extensive title window.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named to 2023-24 All-NBA First Team

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named to 2023-24 All-NBA First Team.

The NBA announced its All-NBA Teams on Wednesday and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the All-NBA First Team. The other members include Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This was expected as Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in MVP voting this season. The 25-year-old has a career season where he headlined the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic were the only players to receive unanimous votes for the All-NBA First Team with 99 first-place votes, garnering 495 total points.

In 75 games, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.1 points on 53.5% shooting, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds. He shot 35.3% shooting on 3.6 attempts. He led the league in steals at two per game.

This was the cherry on top for Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascension into one of the best players over the last two seasons. He’s had back-to-back top-five MVP finishes and two straight All-NBA First Team honors.

Considering he’s locked under his current deal with no opt-outs until 2027, it’s fair to say the Thunder will roster one of the best players in the league during their prime for the foreseeable future.

The three All-NBA teams can be read below:

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An hour of Jayson Tatum and the rest of the 2023 All-NBA First Team highlights

Two Celtics have officially made All-NBA this season with star forward Jayson Tatum having made All-NBA First Team for the second time in his career.

Along with his Boston Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown making All-NBA Second Team, two Celtics have officially made All-NBA this season with star forward Jayson Tatum having made All-NBA First Team for the second time in his career now.

Along with the St. Louis native garnering First Team honors are Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA put together a video highlight reel of the best play from these five individuals over the course of the 2022-23 season, which it recently posted to the league’s official YouTube channel.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to see a full hour of Tatum, Giannis, Luka, and others going off in celebration of their season-long achievement.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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NBA Twitter reacts to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s All-NBA first-team berth

Let’s look at the best tweets celebrating SGA’s biggest individual accolade yet.

The league announced all three of its All-NBA teams on Wednesday, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made the first team.

Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed the best season of his career. He averaged 31.4 points on 51% shooting, 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He earned his first All-Star berth, finished No. 2 in Most Improved Player voting and was top five in MVP voting this season.

The 24-year-old was the face of the league’s biggest overachieving team. The young Thunder finished a win shy of a playoff berth after going 40-42 in the regular season — a much better record than what most projected for OKC heading into the season.

Let’s look at some of the best tweets celebrating Gilgeous-Alexander’s biggest career accomplishment.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes 2022-23 All-NBA First Team

Since 2010, the Thunder have had at least one All-NBA representative in 12 of 15 seasons.

The NBA announced its three All-NBA teams on Wednesday and Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander officially made the All-NBA first team for the 2022-23 regular season.

This news shouldn’t be a shocker to anybody who paid attention to the league this season. Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed the best season of his career as he averaged 31.4 points on 51% shooting, 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He also earned his first career All-Star berth, finished No. 2 in Most Improved Player and was top-five in MVP voting this season.

The 24-year-old was also the face of the league’s biggest overachiever. The young Thunder finished a win shy of a playoff berth after going 40-42 in the regular season — a much better record than what most projected for OKC heading into the season.

Since 2010, the Thunder have had at least one All-NBA representative in 12 of 15 seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander joins Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Chris Paul as other Thunder players to make an All-NBA team during that stretch.

The entire All-NBA First Team is:

  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • Luka Doncic
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo
  • Jayson Tatum
  • Joel Embiid

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The All-NBA Second Team and Third Team can be viewed below:

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Gilgeous-Alexander received 407 total points, the fourth most among players. He had 63 First-Team votes, 29 Second-Team votes and 5 Third-Team votes.

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NBA awards ballots: Unusual votes involving the Houston Rockets

James Harden finishing on the All-NBA First Team was a consensus view among voters. Harden on the All-Defensive First Team? Not as much.

In the NBA’s awards voting for the 2019-20 regular season, some choices had a relatively clear consensus view. For example, out of the 100 global media members who formed the league’s panel, 89 voted Houston Rockets superstar James Harden to the All-NBA First Team.

Only one out of 100, however, had Harden on the All-Defensive First Team. (The names and affiliations of the 100 voters are available here.)

With all awards handed out, the NBA on Saturday released the specific ballots from each voter. Here’s a look at some unusual votes — i.e. those that were minority viewpoints — involving the Houston Rockets.

Some of these are better than the consensus, like Harden’s All-Defensive First Team vote. Others, however, are worse than the consensus — such as the 16 voters that didn’t have Harden in the top five of MVP voting.

James Harden MVP votes (finished third):

Second place: Chris Hine, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Fourth place: Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN; Ric Bucher, Bleacher Report; Nick Kosmider, The Athletic; Greg Logan, Newsday; Dave Pasch, ESPN; Shaun Powell, NBA.com; Jason Quick, The Athletic; Remi Reverchon, BeIN Sport (France); Sekou Smith, NBA.com; Joe Vardon, The Athletic

Fifth place: Antoine Bancharel, Canal + Afrique; Marc Berman, New York Post; Chris Broussard, Fox Sports; Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times; Jared Greenberg, Turner; Zach Harper, The Athletic; Erik Horne; The Athletic; Mark Jones, ESPN; Duane Rankin, Arizona Republic; Doug Smith, The Toronto Star;

Not in top five: Greg Anthony, Turner; Steve Aschburner, NBA.com; Tim Bontemps, ESPN; Shams Charania, The Athletic/Stadium; Davide Chinellato, La Gazzetta dello Sport; Antoni Daimiel, Movistar+; Frank Isola, Sirius Radio; Coral Lu, ESPN-Tencent; Brian Mahoney, Associated Press; Keith Pompey, Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News; Bill Simmons, The Ringer; Seerat Sohi, Yahoo! Sports; Justin Termine, Sirius Radio; Brian Windhorst, ESPN; Royce Young, ESPN

James Harden All-NBA votes:

First Team: 89 voters

Second Team (9): Shams Charania, The Athletic; Antoni Daimiel, Movistar+; Frank Isola, Sirius Radio; Sekou Smith, NBA.com; Amin Elhassan, ESPN; Steve Aschburner, NBA.com; Justin Termine, Sirius Radio; Brian Windhorst, ESPN; Tim Bontemps, ESPN

Third Team (2): Davide Chinellato, La Gazzetta dello Sport; Seerat Sohi, Yahoo! Sports

Here’s who voted for James Harden and Russell Westbrook to the All-Defensive Team (each had one vote out of 100):

Harden All-Defensive First Team: Duane Rankin, Arizona Republic;
Westbrook All-Defensive Second Team: Greg Logan, Newsday

P.J. Tucker, who narrowly missed out on the All-Defensive Second Team, had 29 out of 100 media members vote for him. Here’s who they are:

All-Defensive Second Team: Sam Amick, The Athletic; Steve Aschburner, NBA.com; Howard Beck, Bleacher Report; Davide Chinellato, La Gazzetta dello Sport; Will Guillory, The Athletic; Kevin Harlan, Turner; Zach Harper, The Athletic; Kurt Helin, NBCsports.com; Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe; Erik Horne, The Athletic; Cassidy Hubbarth, ESPN; Kelly Iko, The Athletic; Mark Jones, ESPN; Andy Larsen, Salt Lake Tribune; Kristen Ledlow, Turner; Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle; Coral Lu, ESPN-Tencent; Jackie MacMullan, ESPN; Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News; Mark Medina, USA Today; Yoko Miyaji, Sports Graphic Number; Rachel Nichols, ESPN; Jason Quick, The Athletic; Steve Smith, Turner; Casey Stern, Turner; Justin Termine, Sirius Radio; Gary Washburn, Boston Globe; Brian Windhorst, ESPN; Matt Winer, Turner

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Though Russell Westbrook made the All-NBA Third Team at guard, ballots were largely split, with 62 out of 100 voters not including him on any All-NBA team. Among the 38 who did, 29 had him on the Third Team, while nine placed him on the Second Team. Here are his voters:

All-NBA Second Team (9): Davide Chinellato, La Gazzetta dello Sport; Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe; Mark Jackson, ESPN; Nick Kosmider, The Athletic; Greg Logan, Newsday; Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News; Keith Pompey, Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News; Tim Reynolds, Associated Press; Joe Vardon, The Athletic

All-NBA Third Team (29): Matt Winer, Turner; Michael Wilbon, ESPN; Gary Washburn, Boston Globe; Matt Velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Brad Townsend, Dallas Morning News; Steve Smith, Turner; Stephen A. Smith, ESPN; Marv Albert, Turner; Sam Amick, The Athletic; Greg Anthony, Turner; Renjun Bao, Tencent; Mike Breen, ESPN; Chris Broussard, Fox Sports; Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times; Will Guillory, The Athletic; Kevin Harlan, Turner; Zach Harper, The Athletic; Chris Haynes, Yahoo! Sports; Chris Hine, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Erik Horne, The Athletic; Kelly Iko, The Athletic; Ernie Johnson, Turner; Brian Mahoney, Associated Press; Dave McMenamin, ESPN; Yoko Miyaji, Sports Graphic Number; Rachel Nichols, ESPN; Jason Quick, The Athletic; Ramona Shelburne, ESPN; Remi Reverchon, BeIN Sport (France)

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No other Houston Rockets player or coach received votes. All votes were cast prior to the league’s late July restart of the 2019-20 regular season, as a means of being fair to the eight NBA teams who were not invited.

For the Rockets, this included only the 64-game portion of the schedule from the season’s launch in October 2019 until its March 11 suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rockets were 40-24 and the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference at the time of the awards voting.

The complete ballots for all voters can be accessed here.

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Rockets star James Harden named to 2019-20 All-NBA First Team

For the fourth straight year and sixth out of seven overall, Houston Rockets star James Harden was voted to the All-NBA First Team.

For the fourth straight year and sixth out of seven overall, Houston Rockets star James Harden was voted to the All-NBA First Team. Having earned the honor in six different seasons, Harden has tied Hakeem Olajuwon with the most All-NBA First Team honors in franchise history.

For the 2019-20 season, Harden is joined on the First Team by Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks; LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers; and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. The awards were voted on by a a global panel of 100 media members.

In all, Harden received 89 votes for the All-NBA First Team; nine votes for the Second Team; and two for the Third Team, giving him 474 out of a possible 500 points. Only Antetokounmpo and James, who were unanimous First Team selections, had more votes.

Harden is also one of three finalists in the league’s 2019-20 MVP race alongside Antetokounmpo and James, with the winner expected to be named later this week. Harden has finished second, first, and second in MVP voting over the previous three seasons, respectively.

In the 2019-20 regular season, Harden averaged 34.3 points, 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game, and he joined Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson as the only players to lead the league in points and steals in the same season. He shot 44.4% from the field and 35.5% on 3-pointers.

With that scoring average, Harden became just the fourth player since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976 to win a scoring title in three straight years, joining Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, and George Gervin.

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Harden also won the scoring title in the 2018-19 season, when he led the NBA with a 36.1 points per game average, and in the 2017-18 season (30.4 points). Harden is now just the third player in league history to average more than 34 points per game in multiple seasons, joining a pair of Basketball Hall of Famers in Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

Best of all, Harden’s historic numbers contributed greatly to success for his team. Now 30 years old, “The Beard” led his Rockets (44-28) to a top-four seed in the Western Conference for a sixth time in seven years. With Harden as the star, Houston has now made the NBA playoffs in eight straight seasons, which is the league’s longest current streak.

Harden has earned Western Conference All-Star honors in all eight of his seasons with the Rockets, and he’s finished in the top three of the league’s MVP voting on five separate occasions during those eight years (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020). He won the award in 2018.

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Poll: James Harden poised for fourth straight All-NBA First Team

The new poll of NBA awards voters suggests that Harden will make the All-NBA First Team for the sixth time in eight seasons in Houston.

For a fourth straight year and the sixth time over his eight seasons in Houston, Rockets guard James Harden will make the All-NBA First Team.

As the 2019-20 regular season winds down, HoopsHype asked media members voting for the official NBA awards to share their ballots. Combined with those who made their picks public, 18 were obtained.

Per HoopsHype’s findings, Harden has nearly 98% of the expected vote for the All-NBA First Team.

Luka Doncic (82.2 percent)
James Harden (97.8 percent)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (100 percent)
LeBron James (100 percent)
Anthony Davis (95.6 percent)

Harden is also projected to finish third in the MVP race, comfortably ahead of fourth-place finisher Luka Doncic. Now 30 years old, the future Hall of Famer and eight-time NBA All-Star has finished second, first, and second in MVP voting in each of his last three seasons.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (100 percent)
2. LeBron James (70 percent)
3. James Harden (42.2 percent)
4. Luka Doncic (20.6 percent)
5. Kawhi Leonard (12.2 percent)

Harden is leading the Rockets and the NBA in scoring this year at a 34.2 points per game clip, which is just the third time in over 30 years that a player has averaged at least 34 points in a season. (The other two were Harden’s 36.1 last season and Kobe Bryant’s 35.4 in 2005-06.)

Assuming “The Beard” keeps his scoring average above 34 after the four remaining regular-season games, Harden will become just the third player in league history to average at least 34 points in two different seasons, joining Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Over his eight seasons to date in Houston, Harden has earned All-Star honors in all of them while leading his Rockets to the playoffs during each season.

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As for the rest of HoopsHype‘s poll, Russell Westbrook and P.J. Tucker each narrowly missed out on the All-NBA Third Team and All-Defensive Second Team, respectively. However, the margin was close enough that it remains possible for either or both to ultimately receive the honor.

All of this year’s award winners will be named during NBA playoffs, according to the league, with no precise dates available just yet.

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