It is the highest individual honor a basketball player can achieve. Honestly, it’s arguably more prestigious than the MVP trophy. Think about it. The MVP is often about the "story" of a single season, a narrative arc that captures the media's imagination for six months. But making First Team All NBA? That is a cold, hard statement that you were one of the five best human beings on planet Earth at playing basketball for an entire year. No flukes. No "he had a good narrative." Just pure, unadulterated dominance.
The list of names is legendary. Jordan. LeBron. Kobe. Kareem. When you look at the history of the league, these aren't just players; they are the pillars of different eras. If you make this team, you aren't just an All-Star. You're a deity in shorts.
The Brutal Reality of the 65-Game Rule
Things changed recently. For decades, voters could pick whoever they wanted regardless of how many games they played. Not anymore. Now, if you don't hit that 65-game threshold, you are dead to the voters. Gone.
Take Joel Embiid as a prime example of how this rule creates absolute chaos. In 2024, he was playing some of the most statistically absurd basketball we have ever seen. He was a lock for First Team All NBA and likely a repeat MVP. Then the meniscus gave out. Because he couldn't hit the 65-game mark, he vanished from the ballot entirely. It feels weird, right? You can be the best player in the world, but if you play 64 games, you're officially "worse" than a guy who played 70 games at 80% of your production.
The league did this to fight "load management." They wanted to force stars onto the court. But what it really did was turn the All-NBA selections into a war of attrition. You have to be great, but more importantly, you have to be lucky. If an opponent falls into your knee in February, your legacy takes a hit. That’s the reality of the modern NBA. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and the finish line is guarded by a calculator.
Positionless Basketball and the Death of the Center
For a long time, the First Team All NBA was rigid. You had two guards, two forwards, and one center. It led to some truly stupid situations. Remember when Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid were clearly the two best players in the league, but because they both played center, one of them had to be bumped to the Second Team? It was a robbery. Fans hated it. The players hated it.
So, the NBA finally went positionless.
Now, the voters just pick the five best players. Period. If that means five centers, so be it. But it won't be five centers. It’s usually a mix of versatile wings and ball-dominant guards who can do everything. This shift changed the valuation of players. A guy like Jayson Tatum or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander benefits immensely from this because they don't have to fit into a specific "slot" anymore. They just have to be better than the next guy.
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The Money: Why These Teams Actually Matter
Most fans think these awards are just for the history books. They aren't. They are about the bag. Specifically, the "Supermax" contract.
Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, making an All-NBA team (any of the three, but First Team is the gold standard) can be the difference between a $200 million contract and a $260 million contract. It’s high-stakes gambling. When Tyrese Haliburton was chasing an All-NBA nod, he wasn't just playing for pride; he was playing for a $40 million raise.
- It creates immense pressure.
- Players play through injuries they probably shouldn't.
- Agents lobby media members like they're running a political campaign.
- One bad week in March can cost a player the price of a private island.
It’s kinda gross when you think about it. We’ve tied massive financial incentives to the subjective opinions of 100 media members. These journalists, many of whom have never played at a high level, are essentially deciding which players get generational wealth. You’ve got to wonder if that influences how the game is played on the floor. Are guys chasing stats to ensure that First Team All NBA spot? Probably. Wouldn't you?
The "Snub" Culture and the Media Bias
Every year, without fail, someone gets screwed. Social media melts down. "How could [Player A] make it over [Player B]?"
The truth is that the media has biases. They just do. There’s a "Late Night" bias where East Coast voters don't stay up to watch the Sacramento Kings or the Portland Trail Blazers. There’s a "Winning" bias where a great player on a mediocre team gets ignored for a good player on a 60-win team.
Look at Devin Booker a few years back. He was putting up elite numbers, but until the Suns became a powerhouse, he couldn't sniff a First Team selection. Then, suddenly, the wins came, and the respect followed. It suggests that First Team All NBA isn't just an individual award—it's a team award in disguise. If your team is the fourth seed or lower, you basically have to average 35 points a game to even be considered for that top tier.
Historical Heavyweights: Who Owns the Record?
LeBron James is the king of this category. It’s not even close. He has 13 First Team selections. To put that in perspective, most Hall of Famers are lucky to get three or four. LeBron’s longevity is a statistical anomaly that shouldn't exist. He’s been one of the five best players in the league across three different decades.
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Then you have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West with 10 each. Michael Jordan has 10. Kobe Bryant has 11.
When you see these numbers, you realize the gap between "Great" and "Legendary." A guy like Damian Lillard is a lock for the Hall of Fame, but he only has one First Team selection. It shows you how crowded the top of the mountain is. You aren't just competing against the guys on the court; you're competing against the ghosts of the game.
The Evolution of the Game
In the 90s, the First Team All NBA was dominated by physical specimens. It was Malone, Barkley, and Hakeem. It was a bruiser's league.
Today? It’s about gravity.
Stephen Curry changed the geometry of the court. Suddenly, a 6'3" guard who rarely dunks was a perennial First Team lock because he could shoot from the logo. The criteria shifted from "Who can dominate the paint?" to "Who can break the opposing defense's brain?"
Why We Should Stop Obsessing Over It (But Won't)
We love lists. Humans are obsessed with ranking things. The First Team All NBA provides a definitive answer to a question that has no answer: "Who is the best?"
But basketball is a team sport.
A player might be a First Team talent but play in a system that limits their stats. Or they might play for a coach who prioritizes defense over individual scoring. Those players often get relegated to the Second or Third teams, or worse, ignored entirely.
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Take a defensive specialist like Rudy Gobert. He’s a multi-time Defensive Player of the Year. He changes the entire structure of a game. But because he doesn't average 25 points, his chances of making the First Team are practically zero. We value the "bucket getters" more than the "shot preventers." It’s a flaw in how we perceive the game, but it’s one that isn't going away anytime soon.
How to Project the Next Generation
Who is the next First Team mainstay? Anthony Edwards looks like a safe bet. Victor Wembanyama? He’s essentially a cheat code designed in a lab to win this award ten times.
The transition is happening right now. The old guard—LeBron, KD, Steph—is finally starting to see their grip loosen. The new era is more athletic, more international, and more positionless than ever before.
Luka Doncic is already racking up First Team nods at a rate that puts him on a LeBron-esque trajectory. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has proven that his leap wasn't a fluke. We are entering an era where the five best players in the world might not even be from the United States. In fact, that's already happened. In 2023, the First Team featured Giannis (Greece), Luka (Slovenia), Tatum (USA), Embiid (Cameroon), and Shai (Canada).
The game is global. The First Team All NBA reflects that.
Actionable Steps for the Hardcore Fan
If you want to truly understand how these selections work and move beyond the "who got snubbed" tweets, you need to look deeper at the mechanics of the season.
- Track the 65-Game Count Early: Don't wait until April. Use sites like Basketball-Reference to see who is on pace. If your favorite player misses 10 games in the first two months, their First Team hopes are already on life support.
- Watch the Net Rating, Not Just PPG: Voters are becoming more analytically savvy. A player with a massive +15 Net Rating (how much the team wins by when they are on the court) will often beat out a player who scores more points but has a neutral impact.
- Listen to the "Voter" Podcasts: Media members like Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, and the crew at The Athletic often talk through their ballots weeks in advance. If you listen closely, you can hear the consensus forming (or breaking) in real-time.
- Ignore the All-Star Game: The All-Star game is a popularity contest for the fans. All-NBA is a professional evaluation. Being an All-Star starter does not guarantee an All-NBA spot. Keep those two things separate in your mind.
- Study the Contract Implications: Check out Spotrac to see which players have All-NBA escalators in their contracts. It adds a whole different layer of drama to the final weeks of the season when you realize a player is literally shooting for a $40 million bonus.