Report: New CBA to allow positionless All-NBA selections

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of both the NBA and NBPA will have a positionless All-NBA Teams, wherein a 65-game appearance are the limit for players to qualify for the selection, per Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

The All-NBA Team is an honor given amongst the best players of the association in a season. Based on the votes from the global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, the league has been running this award since its inaugural season back in 1946.

Back then, the All-NBA Teams were composed of a two five-man lineup, but the league opted to add another one starting in 1988, namely: All-NBA First Team, All-NBA Second Team, and the All-NBA Third Team.

It took the NBA 67 years to adapt a new, positionless system of picking well deserved players for every All-NBA Team. Since 1956, voters have been referring to positions to determine their preferences for the recognized clubs, picking two guards, two forwards, and one center for each team.

The WNBA already went first in adapting a positionless picking for their All-WNBA teams, which was announced by the league late in the 2022 season.

In the poll, NBA players will take five points if they are selected for the first team, three points for the second team, and lastly, one point for the third team selection. These points will be summed up, with players receiving the highest totals will be placed in the first team, while the next highest making the second team and so forth for the third club. With the new CBA rule, it is yet to be seen if this will still remain as the voting system for the positionless teams.

LeBron James holds the most All-NBA Team with 18. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is also the all-time leader for most All-NBA First Team honors with 13, while also managing to be included in all of three team selections.

The brand new positionless All-NBA voting can truly benefit star players being stuffed in a single position, most notably both Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid who are playing at the center position.