The NBA announced this Sunday the All-NBA teams of the season and one of the main novelties was the presence of Luka Doncic in the ideal quintet, while LeBron James was left out of the selections for only the second time in his 23 seasons in the league.

The Los Angeles Lakers point guard made the first team along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Cade Cunningham. Both Oklahoma City Thunder star Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets star Jokic received unanimous votes to top the list of best players of the year.

Doncic appeared on the 100 ballots issued by the specialized press, with 91 votes for the first team and nine for the second. Wembanyama was also present in all the votes, although he lost unanimity by a single vote, obtaining 99 votes for the main quintet and one for the second team.

Cunningham's inclusion ended up being one of the standout surprises of the annual selection. The Detroit player received 60 votes for the first team and 38 for the second, surpassing Jaylen Brown, who despite also appearing on the 100 ballots ended up relegated to the second team due to having less support in the main vote.

For Jokic it is his eighth appearance in an All-NBA, while Doncic reached his sixth. Gilgeous-Alexander added his fourth selection, Cunningham his second and Wembanyama debuted in the league's ideal team.

Absences mark the NBA list

The publication of the All-NBA teams also left out several historical figures and recent dominators of the competition. LeBron James could not receive votes due to the minimum number of games played rule, a situation that also affected Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

LeBron's absence represents only the second time in his entire career that he did not make an All-NBA team. In Antetokounmpo's case, he ended a streak of eight consecutive seasons appearing on every ballot.

Stephen Curry also did not meet the 65-game requirement established by the league to qualify for individual season awards.

The All-NBA second team was made up of Jaylen Brown, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant and Jalen Brunson. Durant thus reached 12 selections in his career, becoming the twelfth player in history with that number.

Brunson and Mitchell made three All-NBA team appearances, while Leonard earned the seventh of his career and Brown earned the second.

Included on the third team were Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, Jalen Johnson, Jalen Duren and Chet Holmgren. All of them achieved this recognition within the NBA for the first time.

The league also reported that another 12 players received votes, although without reaching the necessary score to integrate one of the three official teams of the season.