Was LeBron James snubbed in All-NBA voting?
The All-NBA teams were announced on Tuesday, and some selections were interesting.
While the first team wasn't overly controversial, other picks were. For instance, Kevin Durant was selected as a forward for the All-NBA Second Team, which pushed LeBron James to the third team.
On "Undisputed," Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe had strong opinions on the matter.
Was LeBron James snubbed as All-NBA Third Team?
"LeBron is far more popular among voters than Kevin Durant is," Bayless said. "I don't think Kevin is very popular among voters because he often bites the hands that have fed him MVPs before. He's constantly in the media saying, 'you don't know … about basketball.'"
Despite the lack of popularity among voters, Durant still received more second-team votes (68) than James (35). Durant also had 10 first-team votes, while James had two.
"Nine voters didn't even vote LeBron first, second, or third team. Nine said he doesn't even belong on any of these teams," Bayless said.
In the 2021-22 season, James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game while averaging 37.2 minutes. He shot 52.4% from the field, 35.9% from 3, and 75.6% from the free-throw line.
It was the second-highest scoring average of James' career.
"The only thing for me is, I thought that Durant should have been third-team and LeBron should have been second-team," said Sharpe. "There's only a one-game difference in games played. LeBron played 56, and KD played 55. If you look at the numbers, LeBron was 30-8-and-6, on 52% shooting, while Kevin Durant was 30-7-and-6 on 50% shooting. KD shot 38% from 3, while Bron shot 36%.
"When you look at it, I thought LeBron played better than Durant."
James has been a mainstay of the All-NBA First Team in the past. In 2017-18, James' last year in Cleveland, he was a first-teamer. He averaged 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 9.1 assists that season while shooting 54.2% from the field, 36.7% from 3, and 73.1% from the free-throw line.
In his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he didn't reach the playoffs and was a third-teamer.
But during his second Lakers season, which ended with a championship, he earned first-team honors. He averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 10.2 assists while shooting 49.3% from the field, 24.8% from 3, and 69.3% from the free-throw line.
Sharpe believes that James should have received second-team honors this season based on his stature on the Lakers and his statistics. Bayless believes Durant deserved the nod over James.
Looking at past seasons, specifically the 2019-20 campaign, the NBA has made it clear that when it comes to All-NBA teams, team success might play a bigger role than individual accolades.
