Giannis all-NBA but Middleton gets snubbed
When the all-NBA teams were announced on Wednesday, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was unsurprisingly one of two players selected unanimously to the firstteam. That’s what happens when you’re the defensive player of the year and a favorite to win your second successive MVP award.
However, there was a bit of a surprise when it came to the Bucks, though it wasn’t a good one.
Khris Middleton, who had the best season of his career and was squarely in the conversation for inclusion on one of the all-NBA teams, was left on the outside looking in. Middleton finished with 82 points (10 secondteam votes and 52 third-team votes), ending up with the highest point total of any player not on an all-NBA team and well behind the third-team allNBA forwards Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics (153 points) and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat (147 points).
The interesting wrinkle, though, is that Middleton had more points than both of the third-team guards -- Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (61 points) and Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook (56 points). This season, the NBA embraced increased positional flexibility in its voting process with numerous players eligible under multiple categories (guard, forward and center).
The NBA’s regular-season awards were determined by an international group of 100 media members who judged players based on their contributions through March 11, when the coronavirus pandemic paused the 2019-20 season.
Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position where they play regularly. In the event that players Players received votes at multiple positions, the league decided to slot them at the position where they received the most votes.
This explains why Middleton, who had guard-forward flexibility on the ballot, was left off. He had more points than the third-team guards, but everyone who voted for him did so as a forward and his vote total fell short of both Tatum and Butler.
Joining Antetokounmpo as firstteam picks are the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (unanimous) and Anthony Davis, Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic. The second team was comprised of Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was the third-team center along with the already-named guards and forwards.
Antetokounmpo earned an all-NBA nod for the fourth straight season. He was selected to the second team in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and vaulted to the first team last season.
Antetokounmpo joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in Bucks history to earn multiple first-team AllNBA selections.
In 57 games before the league went on hiatus, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in just 30.9 minutes per game. He was dominant on the interior on offense while wreaking havoc as part of the Bucks’ leaguebest defense.
For Middleton, his snub marked an unfortunate end to the best season of his career. In his first season since signing a five-year contract worth about $178 million, Middleton took his game, particularly his shooting, to another level.
During the pre-pandemic portion of the schedule, Middleton shot 49.9% overall and 41.8% from three-point range for a career-best 57.7% effective field-goal percentage. Additionally, he was a 90.8% free-throw shooter.