L-R: Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Maveriicks are named for the 2021-22 All-NBA First Team. /CFP
The NBA announced on Tuesday the rosters for the 2021-22 All-NBA Teams.
Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics have been named for the All-NBA First Team.
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets, DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies have been named for the All-NBA Second Team.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks have been named for the All-NBA Third Team.
L-R: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets and DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls are named for the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team. /CFP
Three of the First Team members, Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic are European players. Jokic has won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for the second straight time. Antetokounmpo is selected for both the All-NBA and the All-Defensive First Teams. Doncic has been a First-Team member for three consecutive seasons though this is only his fourth season in the league. Tatum became the first Celtic to be selected for the All-NBA First Team since Kevin Garnett in the 2007-08 season.
This is the youngest First Team squad in NBA history since the 1954-55 season.
The 2021-22 season was very ironic to Embiid. He had the most dominant season of his career and became the first scoring leader center in 22 years. However, Embiid lost to Jokic in both the MVP race and the All-NBA First Team competition. Morant, as the Most Improved Player this season, made his debut in both the All-Star Game and the All-NBA selections.
Though the Lakers missed the playoffs this season, James continued to add more to his individual honor list by extending his all-time record of All-NBA Teams selections to 18 times and becoming the first player in league history to be named for the All-NBA in his 19th season. Paul joined Kobe Bryant to become the second guard to make the All-NBA in the 17th season of his career.
L-R: Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns are named for the 2021-22 All-NBA Third Team. /CFP
Young was selected for the All-NBA Team for the first time and it lifted his five-year, $176.9 million contract with the Hawks to $212.3 million, according to ESPN's expert Bobby Marks. Of course, the growth of his salary will raise the team's payroll above the luxury tax line by $7.8 million.
Booker and Towns will benefit from the All-NBA selections as well. Their first maximum contracts will come to an end in 2024 and now they are eligible to sign a four-year, $211 million super max extension this summer.
Morant's extension with the Grizzlies, which can be as big as five years for $186 million, will not change. But if he secures the All-NBA nod in the 2022-23 season, his contract will grow to $223 million.
The Miami Heat, which led the Eastern Conference in the regular season and are still competing in the postseason, have no one named for any of the All-NBA Teams.