All-NBA Team 2012: Biggest Snubs and Surprises on This Season's Squad
The NBA officially announced its selections to the All-NBA teams on Thursday, with MVP LeBron James and scoring champion Kevin Durant predictably headlining the First Team.
Despite the unsurprising names at the top of the list, there were some notable exclusions, including 2010-11 MVP Derrick Rose (via the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson):
"Although he missed 27 games, Bulls guard Derrick Rose received the third-most points of those who didn't qualify with 44 points. That still lagged far behind the third-team guards' totals of 235 and 142 points.
"
While Third Team point guard Rajon Rondo only missed 13 games on the season, it's hard to argue that he put together a better body of work than Rose. He pulled down a few more rebounds and averaged an outrageous 11.7 assists per game, but Rose averaged nearly 10 more points per game.
As measured by their player efficiency ratings, Rose outperformed Rondo by a 23.10-to-17.55 margin.
Voted on by a panel of 120 media representatives, the rest of the selections appear to make decent sense at first glance, but there are a few more surprises in the bunch. In case you missed all 15 selections, here's the complete list.
All-NBA First Team
Chris Paul—PG, Los Angeles Clippers
Kobe Bryant—SG, Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James—SF, Miami Heat
Kevin Durant—SF, Oklahoma City Thunder
Dwight Howard—C, Orlando Magic
All-NBA Second Team
Tony Parker—PG, San Antonio Spurs
Russell Westbrook—PG, Oklahoma City Thunder
Blake Griffin—PF, Los Angeles Clippers
Kevin Love—PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
Andrew Bynum—C, Los Angeles Lakers
All-NBA Third Team
Rajon Rondo—PG, Boston Celtics
Dwyane Wade—SG, Miami Heat
Carmelo Anthony—SF, New York Knicks
Dirk Nowitzki—PF, Dallas Mavericks
Tyson Chandler—C, New York Knicks
It should go without saying that these guys dominated the storylines this season, and for good reason. Without exception, they represent the best the NBA has to offer and a broad spectrum of born talent and tirelessly developed skills.
But is this the perfect list? Besides Rose's omission, here are some other, shall we say interesting, choices.
Dirk Nowitzki In Place of LaMarcus Aldridge
Nowitzki will go down as one of the best shooters of all time, maybe the very best among big men.
But LaMarcus Aldridge put up 21.7 points and eight rebounds a game, doing so efficiently on 51 percent shooting percentage. Nowitzki scored 21.6 per game, but shot just 46 percent. He also made a far less significant impact defensively, arguably serving as a liability on that end of the floor.
No Josh Smith
After being snubbed once again for an All-Star selection, it really wasn't a huge surprise that Smith was passed over for the All-NBA teams. His season made a pretty good case for inclusion, though.
Smith averaged 18.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. It's hard to find players that impact the game in so many ways, and Smith's contributions were largely responsible for keeping the Hawks afloat in center Al Horford's absence.
The Tyson Chandler Hype Continues
Chandler is a fine defender, but it's not like the rest of the league's best centers are all that far behind. Chandler averaged 11.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks—solid production by any measure.
But despite averaging one fewer rebound per game, the Memphis Grizzlies' Marc Gasol tallied 14.6 points, 1.9 blocks and added 3.1 assists as one of the game's most fundamentally sound big men. Choosing between these two is a close call, and Chandler's other-worldly 68 percent shooting may have ultimately given him the edge, but that's largely a reflection of what the two players are asked to do.
While Chandler gets most of his points off of put-backs or nifty passes, Memphis frequently relies on Gasol to create his own shots from the post.
The Utah Jazz's Al Jefferson also makes a compelling case to replace Chandler. He nearly matched Chandler in rebounding, he blocked more shots and scored over 19 points a game. Like Gasol, he also played a more central role in his team's offense.
