On Thursday, the All-NBA teams were announced with Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Golden State Warriors guard and MVP Stephen Curry headlining the first team as they were unanimous selections. Also on the first team was Houston Rockets guard and MVP runner-up James Harden, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, and Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol.
On the All-NBA second team was Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, Portland Trailblazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol.
Finally, on the All-NBA third team was Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin, San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving.
Now you might be asking yourself, where is Washington Wizards point guard John Wall? Wall was snubbed as he only received 50 votes.
With Wall being snubbed, debates have started across social media about how he should have been on the third team instead of Irving.
This season, Wall averaged 17.6 points and 10.0 assists per game, which is almost similar to Chris Paul’s numbers. Paul averaged 19.1 points and 10.2 assists per game. From the field, Wall shot 44.5 percent, while Paul shot 48.5 percent. Finally, Paul averaged 1.9 steals per game and Wall averaged 1.7. So you could have a conversation on Wall making the second team.
But the debate is revolving around the third-team selection of Irving. When you compare both players’ stats, Irving averaged 21.5 points and 5.1 assists per game. On the other hand, Wall scored less with 17.6 points but doubled Irving in assists with 10.0.
Isn’t being a well-rounded point guard more about getting your teammates involved rather than scoring?
When you take a look at Irving’s and Wall’s stats from 2013, Irving’s scoring only went up .2 points per game this season while his assists went down by 1.1 per game. Now looking at Wall’s 2013, his scoring went down 1.7 points per game this season, but his assists increased by 1.2 per game. Just looking at those stats alone, Wall had a fantastic season, which helped Washington to 46 wins and getting to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Finally, if you want to look deeper into the stats from this season, Wall had 40 double-doubles and Irving only had six.
Those numbers say to me that Wall should have got the nod over Irving. After finding out he did not make the All-NBA teams, Wall had this to say on Twitter.
More Motivation…Keep Sleeping !!
— John Wall (@JohnWall) May 21, 2015
My question to NBA fans that think Wall does not deserve to be on the All-NBA third team is does he have to average 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game to get the recognition he deserves? If he does this next season, then there is no reason why he should not be on one of the All-NBA teams.
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