With all of the various individual awards handed out, the NBA will spend the first week of May handing out the various All-League honors, starting with the 2022-23 NBA All-Rookie Teams.
The first team featured Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero of the Magic alongside Jazz big man Walker Kessler, Thunder forward Jalen Williams, Kings sharpshooter Keegan Murray, and Pacers wing Bennedict Mathurin.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team:
▪️ Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
▪️ Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz
▪️ Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers
▪️ Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
▪️ Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder pic.twitter.com/qUMfWkTN4m— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 8, 2023
The second team features two pairs of teammates as two Pistons (Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren), two Rockets (Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason), and one Spur (Jeremy Sochan) round out the All-Rookie selections.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Rookie Second Team:
▪️ Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
▪️ Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
▪️ Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons
▪️ Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets
▪️ Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs pic.twitter.com/enD26sOsMD— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 8, 2023
The voting shows how close it was for some of the second-team spots, with Eason beating out Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard by one point for the last spot. Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe, Atlanta’s AJ Griffin, and Denver’s Christian Braun all also received double-digit votes, but fell short of second-team honors.
The complete voting results for the 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Rookie Team: pic.twitter.com/zfSjo4c2i5
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 8, 2023
Banchero was the lone unanimous first-team selection, with Williams getting 99 first-team votes and Kessler receiving 95. It is worth wondering if someone got the two Jalen/Jaylin Williams’ confused, as Jaylin got one first-team vote that very well might have been meant for Jalen, which would explain why he didn’t get unanimously selected. Overall, there aren’t a ton of surprises in the voting, as there are arguments to be made for a number of the players in the middle of the pack given it comes down to personal preference regarding role and production when it comes to the second-team selections.