With one week remaining in the 2016-17 regular season, Anthony Davis half-jokingly told the media that although being chosen for an All-NBA team would be meaningful for him, “last year it would’ve meant a lot more.”
Davis was referring to a clause in his New Orleans Pelicans contract that triggers financial incentives based on individual awards, including the All-NBA honor. However, despite ranking as one of the league’s premier scorers, rebounders and shot-blockers in ’15-16, Davis was left off each of the three All-NBA squads, preventing him from picking up a significant bonus in his contract.
Although it won’t provide any extra compensation this time, the 24-year-old returned to elite status today, earning 2016-17 first-team All-NBA recognition for the second time in three years. Following the Pelicans’ most recent playoff-qualifying campaign, Davis was also a first-team All-NBA pick at forward. This time, he was selected at the center position. The other four members of the ’16-17 top team were all much-discussed MVP candidates, including guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook, along with forwards LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard.
Among the three All-NBA quintets that were selected for this season, 13 of the 15 players reached the playoffs, with the only exceptions being Davis and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns. Of those 13 postseason participants, 10 advanced at least to the conference semifinals.
During the same aforementioned April 6 media session, Davis noted that although the All-NBA kudos would be nice, he’d rather achieve further team success.
“(All-NBA is) something that you care about, but I’m more about winning,” he said. “I want to win. I want to be playing in the postseason, more than just one time. So that’s something I really care about. But it’s something that you definitely are honored to be on one of those (All-NBA) teams.”
2016-17 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
2016-17 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
2016-17 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM