MVP Embiid earns first All-NBA first team honor

Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid was named to the All-NBA first team for the first time in his career as the league unveiled all three of its All-NBA teams on Wednesday night, while LeBron James extended his all-time record to 19 selections.

Embiid was joined on the first team by Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry headlines the second team with their ninth pick. He joins Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.

James, who has now made the All-NBA team in 19 straight seasons, missing out only in his freshman year, led the Sacramento Kings with a pair of third-team selections — center Domantas Sabonis and guard De’Aaron Fox. He was joined by Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and New York Knicks forward Julius Randle.

For Embiid, who led the NBA in scoring for the second year in a row, he has now won the league’s MVP award and been named to the All-NBA first team for the first time. He finished second to Jokic in the MVP race the past two seasons and was a second-team All-NBA selection behind Jokic for the past four (and Anthony Davis in 2018) before finally breaking out this year. .

It was the fifth straight first-team selection for Antetokounmpo, who averaged 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists for the Bucks this season before Milwaukee was stunned in five games by the Heat in the first round. It was the second straight first-team selection — and third overall — for Tatum and the fourth straight first-team honor for Doncic.

Antetokounmpo was the only player unanimously named to the first team.

Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Thunder reach an 8-9 play-in tournament game. Chet Holmgren, taken 2nd overall, missed the entire season and the Thunder had one of the youngest teams in the NBA to make the All-NBA team for the first time.

Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander made the first team All-NBA for the first time since Pete Maravich and Paul Westfall did in 1977 while missing the playoffs.

It was the fifth All-NBA selection for Jokic and Butler, the ninth for Curry and the seventh for Lillard, the second for Randle and the first for Brown, Fox and Sabonis, the latter two of whom powered Sacramento to its first playoff appearance. Appeared in 17 years.

Brown, meanwhile, was the big winner from a contract standpoint. By making All-NBA, the Celtics star became eligible to receive a five-year, $295 million supermax extension this summer, which would be the largest contract in NBA history if he were to sign it. Brown would have been eligible for a four-year, $189 million extension this offseason had he not made All-NBA.

His costar on the Celtics has locked up a supermax extension next summer, as Tatum has made All-NBA the past two seasons. Regardless of what happens next season, Tatum will be eligible to sign a five-year, $318 million extension through the summer of 2024. He has made All-NBA in two of the past three seasons, which automatically makes him eligible for the SuperMax in 2024.

On the other end of the spectrum, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant didn’t make any of the three All-NBA teams and therefore didn’t see his contract increase by an additional $39 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Had Morant made any of the All-NBA teams, he would have received a 30% salary cap increase, which would have made the five-year extension he signed this summer worth $233 million rather than $194.3 million.

Toronto Raptors teammates Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, as well as Nuggets guard Jamaal Murray, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Cavaliers guards, among other players who did not qualify for All-NBA honors by missing out on All-NBA honors. Darius Garland missed out on having a higher stretch number if he had made All-NBA.