On Tuesday night, the NBA released the results of the All-NBA Team voting. As expected, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was not named the first-team center winner, with league MVP Nikola Jokic clinching the spot for the second year in a row.
Although Embiid could have won first-team honors as a forward, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo swept everyone away with 100 votes for first place. Meanwhile, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum edged out Embiid and was named the first team.
Despite becoming the first center to lead the NBA in scoring since 2000 and to place second in the league’s Most Valuable Player award race, Embiid was named an All-NBA Second Team.
While Jayson Tatum was happy to finally be recognized as one of the league’s best players this past regular season, the Celtics forward admitted there were flaws in the voting system. And as Tatum suggested some changes to the way All-NBA teams are put together, he defended Joel Embiid because he thought the Sixers’ big man spot didn’t make much sense.
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“There should be rules in place,” Tatum said. “I don’t know the exact number, but maybe you should play a certain number of games. Maybe you are a playoff team or not. I think it should probably be positionless, you know? Joel Embiid finished second in MVP voting and made the second team. Doesn’t really make too much sense, does it? I think it should only be the top 15 players.
As expected, Sixers fans weren’t thrilled that Embiid was voted the NBA’s second most valuable player, but he wasn’t considered a top five player a few weeks later. late. It looks like Tatum is raising the same questions by pointing out an obvious flaw in the voting system.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
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