John Wall had an outstanding season. He was voted as a starter in the All Star Game, was voted as a second team All-Defensive selection by the media earlier in the week, finished second in the NBA in assists per game behind Chris Paul, had the ninth-most steals this season, and led the Wizards to their best record since the seventies. But it wasn't enough to get John Wall an All-NBA selection this season.
Here's a breakdown of who made all three teams:
First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
Stephen Curry | Chris Paul | Kyrie Irving |
James Harden | Russell Westbrook | Klay Thompson |
LeBron James | LaMarcus Aldridge | Blake Griffin |
Anthony Davis | Pau Gasol | Tim Duncan |
Marc Gasol | DeMarcus Cousins | DeAndre Jordan |
Specifically among guards, here's how the votes broke down. Players received three points for each first team vote, two for each second team vote and one for each first team vote:
- Stephen Curry - 645
- James Harden - 637
- Russell Westbrook - 397
- Chris Paul - 335
- Klay Thompson - 122
- Kyrie Irving - 112
- John Wall - 50
As great as Wall was this season, we can understand why he received less votes than the top five guards. All five had incredible seasons. You could argue Wall outplayed Klay Thompson, but we understand why some people would feel weird voting in five point guards, on principle.
The choice that will sting for quite a while is seeing Kyrie Irving getting more than twice as many points as John Wall. As we've said before, the Wall-Irving debate has always been more about what you prefer in a point guard than their actual production on the court, because it's so difficult to compare two players who play such different roles on their respective teams. It's like comparing flashy apples that are good to look at but have no real nutritional value and need another, better fruit alongside it to provide some actual substance to healthier, more well-rounded oranges that can carry things by themselves. It's just really hard to figure out which one means more.
That said, we're not going to bore you with another round of arguments on why we think John Wall is better. Instead, we'll let leave you with some opinions from Twitter:
No J Wall? Smh
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) May 21, 2015
John Wall didn't get nearly enough love for all-NBA teams. Impacted game on both ends. Was 2nd in assists. Legit all-star starter #wizards
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) May 21, 2015
If a player on a team I cover doesn't deserve an accolade Ill say so. But Wall losing out to Kyrie is a joke #WizardsTalk @CSNWizards #NBA
— J. Michael (@JMichaelCSN) May 21, 2015
My guy is still All Pro @JohnWall
— Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) May 21, 2015
Damn?? No @JohnWall #allnba ?? Crazy!!!
— Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) May 21, 2015
More Motivation...Keep Sleeping !!
— John Wall (@JohnWall) May 21, 2015