The NBA Is Bending Their All NBA Rules So Both Joel Embiid And Nikola Jokic Can Be Eligible For First Team
Mitchell Leff. Getty Images.
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The NBA needs to make up its minds. Do positions matter for All NBA or not? If so, abide by them. If not, eliminate the position slots on All NBA teams and just select the top 15 players. I don't care which lane you pick, but pick one. What you cannot do is suddenly pretend that Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic has played even one second at forward. They are centers. They have always been centers and always will be centers. I understand things are a bit of a pickle when it comes to there being only one center spot for two legit All NBA First Team centers. Big fucking deal. Make a choice. That's the whole point right? Make a tough call and pick one. You know, just like they've had to do all throughout NBA history.
Not to mention, this now potentially takes votes away from actual forwards. People that actually play the position. Meaning someone is could be bumped off First Team All NBA simply because a player who is not a forward got forward votes. That's why I am asking the NBA to simply pick a lane. You can have 4 centers on First Team All NBA for all I care if those are the top 4 players in the league that season. Just get rid of positions if you're going to keep doing this. Players' contracts and future earnings should not be potentially fucked with because people can't nut up and make a choice between Jokic/Embiid for the one center spot. Guess what? There is a shit ton of awesome talent in the NBA right now at pretty much every position. These sort of things are getting tougher and tougher as more and more young talent enters the league. That's a good thing! You shouldn't bend the rules every other year in order to fit whatever happens in that season. That's bullshit. Either someone is good enough and had a worthy season enough or they aren't.
If you're up for one of the All NBA teams, chances are you've had an insane season. If there are multiple players with All NBA caliber seasons, that's the beauty of voting! Not everyone can win and be rewarded!
Again, we have no issue here if the league would just come out and say they are removing all position slots from All NBA. Do that, pick the top 15 guys and go nuts. But to still keep things by position only to then arbitrarily change the rules whenever they feel like it is actually a little pathetic.