The NBA released its All-NBA teams on Sunday, with the usual cast of characters leading the charge.
But there were a number of players who didn’t make the cut, such as Portland’s Deni Avdija, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, among others.
As you might have guessed, NBA fans and pundits had some thoughts on that after Sunday’s announcement:
Some fans attempted to make the argument in favor of Miami’s Bam Adebayo as well:
It was fairly popular for fans to focus on Jalen Duren’s selection as the outlier when making the case for their player of choice, an argument only emboldened by his rough playoff performance.
But the 22-year-old center was an All-Star who averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and two assists per game while shooting 65 percent from the field. He helped lead the Detroit Pistons to the best record in the Eastern Conference (and the third-best record in the NBA). His startlingly poor playoffs shouldn’t diminish how good he was in the regular season.
Scottie Barnes perhaps makes the best case as being a true snub of the above players listed. He averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 50.7 percent from the field. He was also one of the NBA’s best defenders, making the All-Defensive second team.
Ultimately, somebody (or multiple somebodies, depending on your perspective) was going to be snubbed. The NBA is loaded with talent, and there are only 15 All-NBA spots available to be awarded. Somebody will always just miss out.
