Luka Doncic, Lakers
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Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers mocks Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls after making a shot.
Former NBA MVP Kevin Garnett claimed that he doesn’t believe Luka Doncic deserves to get voted on the All-NBA first team. Garnett and Paul Pierce discussed the names they’d select for the first team on their recent KG Certified podcast episode. Pierce ranking Doncic above Cade Cunningham upset Garnett to deliver his rant about winning and defense.
Garnett shared the following about his All-NBA thought process for the first team:
“Jaylen Brown and Cade Cunningham are having better years of all-around basketball than (Luka). I’m not a Luka hater, I’m a Luke fan. Hey, he’s killing. I didn’t say we are ignoring it. Listen – you got real candidates over here. And (Luka’s) got two other killers on his team.
These men been doing it with just one and the cast. Showing up more consistency every night on both sides of the ball. (Luka) only plays one side of the ball, bro. I love Luka but I’m looking at the game from the whole 360.”
Garnett backed up his point by sharing what he feels the other candidates are doing to warrant getting the vote over Doncic. Cunningham may be forced out of the voting process if he’s unable to play four more games to hit the 65 minimum.
Why Kevin Garnett Wouldn’t Vote Luka
One of the biggest points from Garnett is that he feels Luka has more help than the other names in contention. Both Pierce and Garnett agreed on the top three selections of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama being locks for the first team.
Garnett then wanted to rank Jaylen Brown and Cunningham over Doncic to round out the best five players of the season for the All-NBA first team. The NBA no longer requires specific positions for votes, and the entire voting process is now position-less.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves having All-Star caliber seasons with Luka caused Garnett to argue against Doncic. Some voters will hold Jayson Tatum’s return against Brown’s case, but Garnett felt the opposite. Brown leading the Boston Celtics to title contention during an assumed gap year gets extra love from franchise legend KG.
Will Voters Vote Luka For First Take?
Regardless of Garnett’s opinion, Luka is still a favorite to get selected to the All-NBA first team. SGA, Jokic, and Wembanyama will likely all get more votes, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is the next most probable name on the list above Cunningham and Brown.
If Cunningham fails to play 65 games, Doncic and Brown will likely easily get the last two spots. Cunningham qualifying means he will likely be rewarded for his stellar season leading the Detroit Pistons to the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference.
Brown may be the odd man out in this scenario since he’s dropped in the MVP rankings and now shares the leadership role for Boston with Tatum. A lot of basketball is still left for players to convince voters. However, it remains extremely high that Luka will get his All-NBA first team selection and some secondary MVP votes.