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Of course the NBA should get rid of positions when it comes to All NBA Team selections. It makes sense.
And of course it’s pretty unlikely they ever will. Because of the tired old line of that’s the way it’s always been. That logic should never be used to justify anything.
In the modern era of positionless basketball, can anyone confidently say which position each player lines up in, particularly the best of the best who are so much more multi-skilled than previous generations.
You could make an argument that Nikola Jokic plays point guard more than centre for the Nuggets even though he’s usually the biggest player on the court.
LeBron James flits between the one and the five so often on attack and defence to fill the various holes at the the Lakers that it’s easy to call him a small forward because that’s the one in the middle.
Luka Doncic? Well he’s the size of a forward who plays like a guard. Is he the point guard? Not really because Jaylen Brunson fills that role but Doncic is also the primary playmaker.
Then you have the other end of the spectrum with someone like Ben Simmons, who – granted hasn’t logged a minute this season due to many varying reasons – defends all five positions, sometimes is the main ball distributor like a point guard and other times hangs around the dunker’s spot like a power forward.
At the very least the NBA should move to two backcourt selections and three frontcourt ones for the three All NBA teams in line with the All Stars squads.
That would remove the situation which has happened in the past when a player like DeAndre Jordan, during his prime at the LA Clippers in 2016, made the NBA First Team as the centre even though there was no way he was one of the best five players in the league. He happened to be adjudged the best big man that season but that shouldn’t necessarily have meant he was one of the five in the All NBA First Team.
The calls are growing louder for the NBA to remove positions on the voting ballots so that the best five players are named in the First Team. Even if you picked a side that had five frontcourt players at the moment, you’d still have enough ball handling ability in that group to make a potent tallball line-up. Same if you picked all supposed guards, that smallball team would still hold its own as the best team on the planet for the next time the MonStars send their finest talent to Earth.
There is a fair chance that Jokic or Joel Embiid will not make the All NBA First Team this season despite the two centres being frontrunners for the MVP award alongside Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It will all depend on how many voters include Jokic as a forward – if one of the centres is sent back to the Second Team, then LeBron could sneak in despite missing more than 20 games and the Lakers’ terrible year or Boston’s Jayson Tatum could get in.
Suns guard Devin Booker seems a lock to get in the First Team at guard with Doncic the other likely selection with Steph Curry, Ja Morant and Chris Paul missing too many games despite mounting strong cases.
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
First Team All NBA
Nikola Jokic (Denver)
Joel Embiid (Philadelphia)
Giannis Antetekounmpo (Milwaukee)
Devin Booker (Phoenix)
Luka Doncic (Dallas)
Second Team
LeBron James (Lakers)
Jayson Tatum (Celtic)
Kevin Durant (Nets)
Steph Curry (Warriors)
Ja Morant (Memphis)
Third Team
DeMar DeRozan (Bulls)
Chris Paul (Suns)
Jimmy Butler (Heat)
Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
Karl-Anthony Towns (Wolves)
Patty Mills and Matisse Thybulle at the 2021 Olympics. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Just when you thought it was safe to stop worrying about players and their vaccination status, Matisse Thybulle is set to miss Philadelphia’s crucial clash with Toronto.
The Boomers defensive stopper was listed as “ineligible to play” against the Raptors with reports from the US stating it is due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Canada’s laws prevented Nets star Kyrie Irving from entering the country to play Toronto earlier this season. Irving only recently became eligible to play home games for Brooklyn when New York City lightened its regulations.
Thybulle, who is equal-third in the NBA this season for steals at 1.8 per game, has been averaging 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 64 games, starting on 49 occasions as the main defensive option for the 76ers.
The 25-year-old made the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team in 2020-21 and is likely to make the First Team this season.
Philadelphia are tied with Milwaukee for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference at 49-30 with three games to go so every result is crucial in determining final seedings.
Also, the Raptors are fifth so if the standings remain as is, the 76ers would face Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, meaning Thybulle would be ineligible for away games in that series.
Second spot in the East is on the line when Boston (50-30) travel to Milwaukee (49-30). Neither team is likely to run down Miami (52-28) who have the Hawks and Magic to finish their schedule.
Cleveland (43-37) have gone 3-7 lately while Brooklyn have improved slightly to be breathing down their necks at 42-28. Neither team can knock sixth-placed Chicago out of an automatic playoff berth but home-court advantage in the play-in game is up for grabs while Atlanta (42-38) are also finishing strongly so could leapfrog both teams.
There’s only four games on Sunday and apart from play-in positions, not a lot will be worth tuning in for but it’s worth setting the alarm to check out New Orleans visiting Memphis. Zion Williamson’s stepfather said during the week that the star forward would play this year and with the Pelicans now guaranteed of being in the Western Conference play-in, he could make a surprise appearance in this game or in the Pels’ final regular season outing on Monday to have a run before their do-or-die elimination contest with the Spurs.