G – James Harden (Philadelphia 76ers)
The NBA’s leader in assists per game, James Harden was left off the All-NBA teams. Harden averaged 21 points, 10.7 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game with 44.1%/38.5%/86.7% shooting splits.
Harden also helped lead Philly to the 3-seed in the East with a 54-28 record, alongside league MVP Joel Embiid. Now that Harden is playing as more of a facilitator at this point in his career, I feel that we have begun to take him for granted. He isn’t getting the star coverage that he did when he was routinely scoring 30+ a night, but he is still one of the top guards in the league.
Harden only playing in 58 games once again might’ve been a factor in him not making it. It is also possible that playing alongside the league MVP hurt his candidacy, but I don’t think this should be the case because the Celtics and Kings both ended up with two players on the All-NBA teams.
Harden received six third-team votes. Harden is a previous six-time first-team and one-time second-team All-NBA selection. He made the first team four years in a row from 2017-2020, while also winning the league MVP in 2018.