Mavs' Luka Doncic Named to All-NBA First Team; Ties Dirk Nowitzki Record
DALLAS — Luka Doncic entered the 2022-23 season as a common pre-season favorite for the MVP award. With the Dallas Mavericks going 38-44 and failing to qualify for the play-in tournament, he finished eighth in the final voting results with only 10 total points.
While the MVP award was out of question for Doncic this season, the viability for one of the three All-NBA teams remained something to watch. After all, he averaged 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists in 66 games — joining Michael Jordan as the only players to ever average 32-8-8 for a season.
Before Wednesday's matchup involving the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, the selections for the three All-NBA Teams were revealed on "NBA on TNT." Doncic ended up being selected to the All-NBA First-Team, joining Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, and Joel Embiid.
Doncic now has been selected to All-NBA First-Team during each of his last four seasons. He already has as many of these nominations as Dirk Nowitzki had in his entire career, tying him for the most in Mavs history. Doncic also joins Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, and Max Zaslofsky as the only players to have at least four All-NBA First-Team nods before turning 25.
The members of the All-NBA Second-Team include Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry, Jaylen Brown, Jimmy Butler, and Nikola Jokic. With the league being one year away from adopting a positionless team structure, Jokic, who finished second in MVP voting, was unable to qualify for All-NBA First-Team as a result.
The All-NBA Third-Team includes De'Aaron Fox, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Julius Randle, and Domantas Sabonis. Many felt as though the Sacramento Kings' two stars could have fared better due to the team's regular season success, but both even qualifying is a remarkable achievement.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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