Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo named to all-NBA second team
Matt Velazquez
Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose performance reached a new level this season as he helped lead the Milwaukee Bucks back to the playoffs, was named to the all-NBA second team Thursday.
It is the first all-NBA honor for the 22-year-old Antetokounmpo, who also was chosen an all-star for the first time this past season. Antetokounmpo's inclusion also marked the first time since 2010 that a Bucks player has made an all-NBA team when center Andrew Bogut was named to the third team. Guard Sidney Moncrief was a second-team selection in 1986.
Overall, Antetokounmpo is the 10th player in franchise history to make an all-NBA team, with those 10 players combining to receive all-league honors 21 times.
Antetokounmpo finished the regular season with impressive numbers, including per-game career-highs in points (22.9), rebounds (8.8), assists (5.4), blocks (1.9) and steals (1.6) while shooting a career-high 52.1% from the field. He was the only player in the NBA this season to lead his team in all five major categories and just the fifth player in league history to do it.
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He also finished in the NBA’s top 20 in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks — something no player had ever done.
In February, Antetokounmpo became the first Bucks player to play in the All-Star Game since 2004 (Michael Redd) and the first starter since 1986 (Sidney Moncrief). He scored 30 points for the East squad.
With Antetokounmpo as the team's primary playmaker at point forward, the Bucks went 42-40 this season and returned to the playoffs after a disappointing 33-49 mark left them out in 2015-'16.
Sixth-seeded Milwaukee pushed the third-seeded Toronto Raptors to six games in a first-round playoff series in April before falling, 4-2.
Joining Antetokounmpo on the second team were Utah center Rudy Gobert, Golden State's Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and Boston guard Isaiah Thomas.
Named to the first team were Houston's James Harden, Cleveland's LeBron James, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and New Orleans' Anthony Davis.
On the third team were Golden State's Draymond Green, Washington's John Wall, Chicago's Jimmy Butler, a former Marquette standout, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan and the Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Johnson.
The all-NBA teams were chosen by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Voters select 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.
Antetokounmpo also is considered a leading candidate for the league’s most improved player award. The winner of that award and others will be announced during the inaugural NBA Awards show June 26 on TNT. The finalists for the awards will be announced Friday.