logo
NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokoumpo lead All-NBA picks

NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokoumpo lead All-NBA picks

GMA Network24-05-2025

May 15, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles the ball up court in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets during game six of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. (Photo: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images/REUTERS)
There were four repeat performers and one first-timer named to the 2024-25 Kia All-NBA First Team on Friday.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo heads up the first team, earning top honors for the seventh consecutive year. He was joined by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, along with first-time honoree guard Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Gilgeous-Alexander, named the NBA's Most Valuable Player earlier this week, earned his third consecutive first-team accolade, while Jokic captured his second in a row and Tatum was named for the fourth consecutive year. Those four players were named on all 100 ballots from a global media panel.
Mitchell earned second-team honors in the 2022-23 season.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley earned All-NBA Second Team honors.
James extended his NBA record for most selections to 21, matching his number of seasons played dating back to 2004-05. Curry captured his 11th All-NBA Team accolade.
Brunson and Edwards have now earned back-to-back second-team honors, while Mobley, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, made his debut.
Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and Thunder guard-forward Jalen Williams comprised the All-NBA Third Team.
Harden now has eight selections in his career, but was picked for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Towns has earned third-team honors on three occasions and Haliburton earned his second in a row. Cunningham and Williams are first-time recipients.
The media voting panel made their selections without regard to position. Players earned five points for each vote to the First Team, three points for Second Team votes and one point for every Third Team vote.
The independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP tabulated the ballots.
--Field Level Media/Reuters

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals short on star power
Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals short on star power

GMA Network

time13 hours ago

  • GMA Network

Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals short on star power

LOS ANGELES - The NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers may be an intriguing one for basketball junkies but could struggle to capture the imagination of a wider audience due to a lack of marquee names. Anyone who believes the NBA is fixed in favor of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Luka Doncic will struggle to explain how Commissioner Adam Silver failed to engineer any of their teams making it even as far as the conference finals this post-season. In reality, Silver has pushed for a more level playing field and as a result we get a championship tilt between two small market teams featuring ascending stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Pacers' guard Tyrese Haliburton. Incredible players, no doubt, but not exactly household names - at least not yet. Potentially making matters worse from a rating standpoint is that the Thunder are heavily favored to win their first title since relocating to Oklahoma City in 2008. The franchise's lone title came in 1979 when they were the Seattle SuperSonics. The Thunder won both regular season meetings with the Pacers en route to a sparkling 68-14 record, good for the fifth-most wins in NBA history. In the playoffs, they swept their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, beat the Denver Nuggets in seven games and brushed aside the Minnesota Timberwolves in five contests to reach their first Finals since 2012. The Thunder have been the best team all season long and there is no reason to believe that has changed. The Pacers meanwhile were a surprising Eastern Conference champions. Seeded fourth, they eased past the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers before dispatching a gritty New York Knicks squad in six games to reach their first Finals in a quarter century in their quest for a maiden NBA title. Both teams like to do their damage in transition and the Pacers will need to limit their turnovers against the opportunistic Thunder defense to have any chance in the series. Working in their favor is Haliburton, who has been playing with a chip on his shoulder since an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic in April named him the most overrated player in the league. The 25-year-old has been a key part of the team's success in the playoffs while getting key support from one-on-one specialist Pascal Siakam and sharpshooter Aaron Nesmith. The Thunder meanwhile are a juggernaut with the potential to be a dynasty thanks to league MVP Gilgeous-Alexander - also known as "SGA" - versatile big man Chet Holmgren, explosive guard Jalen Williams, and crafty defender Alex Caruso. Even if the Finals fail to deliver a compelling series, the NBA can rely on the coming off-season drama to keep fans engaged. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant are among the superstars that could be wearing new jerseys come next season so the action will continue even after one of the teams walks away with the Larry O'Brien trophy. The best-of-seven Finals tip-off on Thursday in Oklahoma City. —Reuters

Thunder's Gilgeous-Alexander hungry to cap MVP season with NBA crown
Thunder's Gilgeous-Alexander hungry to cap MVP season with NBA crown

GMA Network

time15 hours ago

  • GMA Network

Thunder's Gilgeous-Alexander hungry to cap MVP season with NBA crown

File photo shows Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrating with the Finals MVP trophy after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 to win the Western Conference Finals. (Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images/REUTERS) Oklahoma City superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has piled up the individual accolades in leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals, but the Canadian guard says a title triumph against the Indiana Pacers is the prize that matters. "I don't play for the individual stuff, I don't play for anything else besides winning -- I never have in my whole life," Gilgeous-Alexander said Wednesday, a day before the Thunder host the Pacers in game one of the best-of-seven championship series. From youth basketball in Canada through university basketball in the United States, Gilgeous-Alexander said, his focus has been on winning titles. "Now I'm 26, I want to win the NBA championship," he said. "It's always about winning for me." With that goal in his sights, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a spectacular season that saw him supplant Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as the NBA Most Valuable Player. "SGA" averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds. 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per game in leading the Thunder to an NBA-best 68 regular-season wins. He became the first player to lead the league in games with at least 20 points (75), 30 points (49), 40 points (13) and 50 points (four) in a season since James Harden in 2018-19. Named MVP of the Western Conference finals after the Thunder dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first league scoring champion since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to win the NBA title in the same season. Gilgeous-Alexander said it had been "a long week to wait" since polishing off Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves -- which followed a seven-game victory over Jokic and the Nuggets in the conference semi-finals. He acknowledged after the conference semis that he'd been nervous in the run-up to game seven -- but that experience has only helped him in the build-up to the Finals. "As these playoffs go on, you get better in controlling the situations, controlling your emotions. You understand what's coming," he said. "I just figured out how to navigate through all the emotions and the nerves and the waiting process, which is just plugging into my loved ones, try not to think about it so much, stress about it so much -- just enjoy life and stay in the moment." In addition to not looking too far forward, Gilgeous-Alexander said he is also not yet looking back on what has been an historic season for the Thunder. "I've been so focused on just game one," he said. "Trying to be the best version of myself for this group and trying to make sure that we're clicking on all cylinders on the biggest stage of our careers has been on the forefront of my mind and all I do worry about when I worry about basketball." — Agence France-Presse

Silver says 2026 NBA All-Star game to have USA vs World format
Silver says 2026 NBA All-Star game to have USA vs World format

GMA Network

time16 hours ago

  • GMA Network

Silver says 2026 NBA All-Star game to have USA vs World format

Next year's NBA All-Star Game will feature a "USA versus the World" format, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday. The move comes after last February's revamped tournament-style format with celebrity-picked rosters was seen as a flop by players and drew relatively low US television ratings. Asked on Fox Sports One about having a USA against the World format for the elite-level contest, the first word out of Silver's mouth was "Yes." "Next year, as part of our new media deal, the All-Star Game returns to NBC and it so happens that next season will be smack in the middle of the Winter Olympics," Silver said. "So the game will be on NBC and the very day we're on, the lead-in will be Winter Olympic events and coming out of the All-Star Game -- which is now going to be in the afternoon instead of the evening -- there will be more Olympic events. "So what better time to feature some form of USA against the world?" Such an All-Star format offers the prospect of Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this season's NBA Most Valuable Player from Oklahoma City, going against American Tyrese Haliburton of NBA Finals rival Indiana. It could offer LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry as US teammates against such global stars as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama. Silver said while no format was set, the NBA looked at the success of the NHL's Four-Nations Face-Off last February, which gained great attention for a USA-Canada rivalry. "I'm not exactly sure what the format will be yet," Silver said. "Obviously paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success." Silver also noted the US TV ratings success for last year's Paris Olympic basketball tournament, won by the US collection of NBA stars. — Agence France-Presse

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store