The Suns’ duo earns their 11th and 2nd All-NBA Team selections, respectively.
It’s All-NBA SZN in the Association. As the conference finals are commencing, the league is releasing the names of those who made their All-NBA first, second, third, and All-Defensive teams this year. These honors have implications, from contract incentives to legacy-based conversations. All-NBA is important.
This season was the first in which players were required to play a minimum amount of games to qualify for the honor. Adam Silver’s answer to load management means that, if you wanted to garner league honors, you needed to play in at least 65 games. Players like Joel Embiid (39 games played), Jimmy Butler (60 games), and Julius Randle (46 games) — all who were All-NBA players a season ago — would not qualify this season.
The Phoenix Suns All-Star duo of Devin Booker (68 games) and Kevin Durant (75 games) did, however. This made them eligible, and both were named to All-NBA teams for the 2023-24 season.
2023-24 All-NBA:
1st: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum
2nd: Jalen Brunson, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard
3rd: Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Tyrese Haliburton, LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 22, 2024
Kevin Durant now finds himself an All-NBA player for the eleventh time in his career. This is his fourth time being named to the All-NBA Second Team. His last appearance on an All-NBA Team was following the 2021-22 season. He last made an appearance on the First Team in 2017-18.
This is Devin Booker’s second All-NBA Team, having been an All-NBA First Team selection in 2021-22. This is his first All-NBA Third Team selection.
While it was a difficult ending for the team as a while — and a painful season relative to performance versus overall expectations — both Durant and Booker averaged 27.1 points en route to winning 49 games for Phoenix.
The last time two Suns made an All-NBA Team? 2022 when Booker made the First Team and Chris Paul made the Third Team.
Congratulations to both Kevin and Devin for their accomplishment in garnering these honors.