Celtics' Jaylen Brown reacts to falling short of first-team All-NBA: "I'm not the most liked"
Celtics star Jaylen Brown made a case for first-team All-NBA this year, leading Boston to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with teammate Jayson Tatum out most of the season. But Brown fell just short of that honor as the league announced recipients on Sunday.
Brown was live on his Twitch stream when he learned that Detroit's Cade Cunningham topped him to earn the final first-team spot.
"I'm not the most liked, fan or media. Sometimes I use my platform a little controversial, so I'm surprised I'm on any team, let alone first or second," Brown said. "I'm grateful, I'm grateful for everything. I'm not surprised about nothing. I'm grateful for everything. I know who I am. I get it. I'm surprised I win awards at all sometimes. I'm grateful, man. It's a blessing. Like I said, this season has been a journey, it's been great. It's been a blessing to be a part of the group I've been on, especially with the expectations they put on us. The expectation was to not even be a playoff team. We finished second in the East."
Cunningham was initially not eligible for postseason awards because he did not play the required 65 games. He appealed, asking for an exemption because he fell short due to a collapsed lung. That appeal was successful.
All-NBA first-team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City and Nikola Jokic of Denver were unanimous first-team All-NBA selections this season, while San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama missed joining them in that club by one vote.
Wembanyama, the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic and Cunningham completed the All-NBA first team, the NBA said Sunday while releasing the vote totals.
Wembanyama (99 first-team votes, one second-team vote) and Doncic (91 first-team, nine second-team) also appeared on all 100 ballots, as did Brown. But Brown had significantly fewer first-team nods than Cunningham, which is why the Pistons guard ended up on that top list.
Cunningham appeared on 98 ballots, with 60 first-team and 38 second-team votes. Brown got 44 first-team votes, 54 second-team votes and two third-team votes — only good enough to get him on the All-NBA second team.
Jokic made All-NBA for the eighth time, Doncic for the sixth time, Gilgeous-Alexander for the fourth time, Cunningham for the second time and Wembanyama for the first time.
Second team
Joining Brown on the second team was Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell, Houston's Kevin Durant and New York's Jalen Brunson.
Durant became the 12th player with 12 All-NBA selections. Leonard is now a seven-time All-NBA pick, Brunson and Mitchell are now three-time selections and Brown made it for the second time.
Third team
The All-NBA third team was Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey, Denver's Jamal Murray, Atlanta's Jalen Johnson, Detroit's Jalen Duren and Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren.
All five of those players are now All-NBA picks for the first times in their careers.
A total of 12 other players got votes.
No LeBron, Steph, Giannis
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers was among those ineligible to get votes because he didn't play in enough games, meaning this became just the second time in his 23-season career that he was not an All-NBA pick.
Also not eligible this year because of the 65-game rule: Golden State's Stephen Curry and Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo — whose streak of being listed on every All-NBA ballot for eight consecutive years ended.
Jokic was on every ballot for the sixth consecutive year, giving him the longest active streak in that department.