Starting next year, players will have to play 65 games to make the All-NBA Team. That would have wiped out a third of this year’s teams.
Jimmy Butler played 64 matches. Giannis Antetokounmpo at 63, Damian Lillard at 58, Steve Curry at 56 and LeBron James at 55. None of them were eligible for the All-NBA Team under the new guidelines.
Last year, there were four All-NBA players who took the field for fewer than 65 games — Curry, James, Ja Morant, and Kevin Durant. The guidelines also extend to other NBA awards, which would have eliminated Defensive Player of the Year Yaren Jackson Jr. this season, since he appeared in just 63 games.
The Warriors’ Draymond Green warned in April that the new playing time rules will lead to “vagabonds” making the All-NBA teams.
The idea behind the new guidelines is to cut back on ‘load management’ for star players. Curry, however, missed 22 games due to leg and shoulder injuries. LeBron has had a foot injury all season. The consequence of the Guidelines may be the removal of deserving players from the team.
Voters believed Antetokounmpo’s 63 matches were deserving of first team status. Obviously, playing time is indeed a consideration, as we saw on Devin Booker and His 53 Games Played.
This wouldn’t be such a big deal if All-NBA selections weren’t Determine the value to extend the contract. Morant has only himself to blame for missing games this season, but the $38 million he lost by not making the All-NBA Team led to the signing lawsuit against a teenager for defamation.
Maybe the new rules will work and we’ll see less load management next year. Or Green would be right, and we’d see an All-NBA team full of “vagrants.”