Every All-NBA Voter Who Snubbed Trae Young

Some media members threw away their vote.

Pat Benson | May 26, 2022

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

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In case you missed it, Trae Young's historic season earned him a spot on the All-NBA Third Team. Young received zero votes for First Team, 11 votes for Second Team, and 77 votes for Third Team. Oddly enough, there were 12 voters who left him off their ballots entirely.

I got the list now 😂😂✍🏽

..not the type of person who forgets.!
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 25, 2022

Last night, Jalen Rose came clean on national television on why he voted for Kyrie Irving over Young. The ESPN analyst admitted to being "mesmerized" by Irving's game and expressed regret over his vote. It was pretty cringey, but Rose wasn't alone. Below is every media member who snubbed Young for All-NBA.

Name	Publication	Notes
Arnovitz, Kevin	ESPN	Voted Fred VanVleet Third Team
Chinellato, Davide	La Gazzetta dello Sport	Voted Jimmy Butler Third Team Guard
Edwards III, James	The Athletic	Voted Jayson Tatum First Team Guard
Goodwill, Vince	Yahoo! Sports	Voted Jayson Tatum First Team Guard & Jimmy Butler Third Team Guard
Miyaji, Yoko	Sports Graphic Number	Voted Jimmy Butler Third Team Guard
Pasch, Dave	ESPN	Voted Jrue Holiday Third Team
Reverchon, Remi	BeIN Sport (France)	Voted DeMar DeRozan Third Team Guard
Reynolds Tim	The Associated Press	Voted Donovan Mitchell Third Team
Rose, Jalen	ESPN	Voted Kyrie Irving Third Team
Schutz, Guillermo	Televisa (TUDN)	Voted Jimmy Butler Third Team Guard
Sohi, Seerat	The Ringer	Voted Donovan Mitchell Third Team
Stavrou, Harris	Sport24	Voted DeMar DeRozan Third Team Guard

Wow. Some of those votes are really... interesting. So, let's examine the argument that some of these voters made for players in favor of Young. Spoiler alert, the arguments are flimsy at best.

Fred VanVleet

Huge shoutout to Fred VanVleet for becoming the first undrafted player to play in an All-Star game this season. But saying VanVleet had a better season than Young is laughable. VanVleet and averaged 20.3 points and 6.7 assists in 65 games this season.

Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Mitchell is good in my book because there are reports indicating he is interested in teaming up with Trae Young in Atlanta. But Mitchell didn't have the season Young did. The All-Star combo guard averaged 25.9 points and 5.3 assists in 67 games this season.

DeMar DeRozan

We have already been over this when it comes to All-Star voting. DeMar DeRozan is not a guard. According to Basketball-Reference, DeRozan was a small forward 11% of his time on the court, a power forward 81% of the time, and a center 8% of the time. Makes sense because if DeRozan was a guard, what does that make Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine?

Kyrie Irving

The eccentric point guard played just 29 games this season. Kyrie Irving's dribbling is mesmerizing, but putting him on your All-NBA ballot is cause for a well-being checkup. It's not much different than voting Kanye in 2020.

Jrue Holiday

Jrue Holiday is a good player. His stat line this season was 18.3 points and 6.8 assists over 67 games. But to place him on All-NBA? In the words of ESPN Monday Night Countdown and President Joe Biden, "Come on, man."

Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler deserved to be on the All-NBA Third Team - as a forward. According to Basketball-Reference, Butler spent 67% of his time at the small forward position and 32% of his time at the power forward spot. Hence, why he was considered a forward in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. Also, If Butler is a guard, what does that make Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, and Tyler Herro?

Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum is 6'8" and spent just 1% of his time on the court in the shooting guard position. The other 99% of Tatum's time was in the role of a forward, according to Basketball-Reference. Again, a top player in the league, but not a guard. Hence, why he was considered a forward in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.

I guess it's not a big deal since Young was named All-NBA Third Team. But some of these votes were outlandish and should make the NBA reconsider who gets a say on prestigious league awards, especially when they have the power to cost players tens of millions of dollars in contract incentives.

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Published May 26, 2022

PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the Atlanta Hawks for Sports Illustrated's All Hawks. He has covered the NBA for several years and is the author of "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)".