PHILADELPHIA — MAY 24, 2018 — The NBA announced today that Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been named to the 2017-18 All-NBA Second Team as voted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Embiid is the 14th player in franchise history to earn All-NBA Team honors and the first since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was selected to the All-NBA Third Team in 2005-06. Embiid also becomes the first 76er to merit All-NBA and All-Defensive Team recognitions in the same season since Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo in 2001-02. The only other 76er to ever to do so was Hall of Famer Moses Malone in 1982-83.
Embiid received 294 points, including 11 First Team votes, 78 Second Team votes and five Third Team votes. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position where they received the most votes.
The Cameroonian appeared in 63 games (all starts), averaging career-highs with 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 30.3 minutes per game. Embiid was one of four NBA players this season to average at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists and the first 76er since Hall of Famer Charles Barkley in 1991-92. Embiid recorded 29 games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in 2017-18. Only five NBA players tallied more such games, and his 29 were the most in a season by a 76er since Barkley had 37 20-10 games in 1991-92.
A product of Kansas, Embiid has totaled 2,072 points, 933 rebounds and 187 blocks through his first 94 career games across his two NBA seasons. The only other players to reach such totals within their first 100 career games are former San Antonio Spurs forward-center Tim Duncan and Hall of Famers Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
Embiid is also one of the three finalists for the 2017-18 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Embiid held opponents to 42.0 percent shooting from the field, which led all NBA players who played in at least 50 games. The winner will be announced during the 2018 NBA Awards presented by Kia on Monday, June 25 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. The second annual NBA Awards, honoring this season’s top performers, will take place at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
The other four members of the All-NBA Second Team are Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook, Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan, Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and San Antonio forward-center LaMarcus Aldridge. The NBA All-NBA First Team consists of Houston guard James Harden, Portland guard Damian Lillard, Golden State forward Kevin Durant, Cleveland forward LeBron James and New Orleans center-forward Anthony Davis. The All-NBA Third Team is made up of Golden State guard Stephen Curry, Indiana guard Victor Oladipo, Minnesota guard-forward Jimmy Butler, Oklahoma City forward Paul George and Minnesota center-forward Karl-Anthony Towns.
Philadelphia rookie guard-forward and All-Rookie First Team selection Ben Simmons received votes amounting to 36 points for All-NBA honors. Simmons is a finalist for the 2017-18 Kia NBA Rookie of Year Award.