In the same season, Phoenix Suns star, Devin Booker, made his first All-Star team, he received a few votes for All-NBA third team.
Phoenix Suns players haven’t cracked any All-NBA teams, but they have received a few votes. Cam Johnson received a few All-Rookie ballots and Aron Baynes received one vote for All-Defense. To follow their lead, Devin Booker received three third-team All-NBA votes.
The biggest takeaway I had after seeing the All-NBA teams is, holy cow, the West is stacked. Nine of the 10 players in the first and second team All-NBA teams hail from the Western Conference. Even when you include the third team, 11 out of 15 players play on teams in the West.
The fact Devin Booker made the All-Star game (albeit as a reserve) is that much more impressive, but still, it is hard to believe he only received three total votes for All-NBA third team.
Devin Booker received three votes for third team All-NBA.
Part of the reason this was the case could be because voters were forbidden to take the bubble into consideration. That means his first team All-Bubble (and near Bubble-MVP) performance didn’t help him at all.
Would it have? It is tough to say, considering ultimately it was only eight games. However, I have to believe voters may have thought, “I’m not allowed to count the bubble, so in that case I won’t vote for him,” and dismissing Booker too quickly.
Booker received the third fewest number of votes of all players who received any, coming in just below Kemba Walker’s four votes in the guards category. Brook Lopez and Zach LaVine only had one vote in the centers and forwards categories respectively.
Here is the complete list of players who actually did make it:
All-NBA First Team
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)
- LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
- James Harden (Houston)
- Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Luka Dončić (Dallas)
All-NBA Second Team
- Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
- Nikola Jokić (Denver)
- Damian Lillard (Portland)
- Chris Paul (Oklahoma City)
- Pascal Siakam (Toronto)
All-NBA Third Team
- Jayson Tatum (Boston)
- Jimmy Butler (Miami)
- Rudy Gobert (Utah)
- Ben Simmons (Philadelphia)
- Russell Westbrook (Houston)
It feels inevitable Booker will make an All-NBA team before too much longer. One thing that will help with that is winning, and if the Phoenix Suns can keep the momentum they generated in the bubble, that might come sooner than later.