NEW YORK.- LeBron James He is now the youngest player – and the oldest too – who has integrated an ideal team of the NBA. Meanwhile, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are positioned to earn around $1 million per game within a few years.
Denver’s Nikola Djokic and Gilgeous-Alexander were the only unanimous first-team All-NBA selections this season. The league announced the members Wednesday night.
That first team was completed with Doncic, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.
The second team is made up of Jalen Brunson of New York, Anthony Edwards of Minnesota, Kevin Durant of Phoenix, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Anthony Davis, James’ teammate on the Los Angeles Lakers.
A third team includes James, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker.
The NBA changed the rules starting this season. Voting for the All-NBA team includes only players without taking into account their positions. A formula used since the 1950s included two point guards, two forwards and a center on each team.
Likewise, players had to appear in a minimum number of games, in most cases, to be eligible by a panel of 99 journalists from electronic and print media.
An NBA history:
For James, who was the youngest player to make an All-NBA in the 2004-2005 campaign, another selection simply added to his list of achievements.
His twentieth inclusion in the All-NBA expanded his record. He now leads Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul Jabbar by five picks.
Obviously, his 20 consecutive selections are another record. And James is the first player 39 or older to be drafted.
Abdul-Jabbar and Duncan were selected a few days before their 39th birthdays.
For Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander, the designations imply that they could obtain “supermax” extensions to their contracts in 2025. With this, they would earn unprecedented amounts.
Doncic can sign an agreement for five years and about 347 million dollars, starting with about 60 million in the 2026-27 campaign and concluding with about 79 million in 2030-31.
Gilgeous-Alexander would be eligible to sign a four-year extension worth about $294 million. It would begin in 2027-28, with about 65 million and would conclude in 2030-31, with just over 81 million dollars or almost a million per game.
It would be the first time that the annual salary of an NBA player reaches 80 million.
Source: AP
