The NBA announced today that Ben Simmons was named to the 2019-20 All-NBA Third Team. It’s the first such honor of Simmons’ career, as he becomes the 15th 76er in franchise history to receive All-NBA recognition and the first since teammate Joel Embiid was named to the Second Team last season.
Simmons received 61 points, including nine Second Team votes and 34 Third Team votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position where they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position where they received the most votes.
The former No. 1 overall pick appeared in 57 games (all starts) during his third NBA season, averaging 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists (sixth in the NBA). He joined Dallas’ Luka Dončić and the Lakers’ LeBron James as the only three players in the league to hold such averages. Selected to the NBA All-Star Game for the second straight season, Simmons notched six triple-doubles on the season, which led the Eastern Conference and ranked fifth in the NBA.
Named to his first career NBA All-Defensive Team as a First Team selection last week, Simmons led the league with an average of 2.1 steals per game, the best mark by a 76er since 2014. He was one of only six players league-wide to post at least five steals in a game three or more times, and the sole player to notch multiple seven-steal games, tying the NBA single-game season high.
In a Jan. 20 win at Brooklyn, Simmons matched his career high with 34 points, while adding 12 rebounds, 12 assists five steals and two blocks, becoming the first 76er with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals since George McGinnis did so on Feb. 8, 1976 against the Buffalo Braves.
Through three NBA seasons, Simmons has seen action in 217 games (all starts), while tallying 3,553 points, 1,800 rebounds, 1,726 assists, 371 steals and 164 blocks. He and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson are the only two players in NBA history to post at least 3,500 points, 1,800 rebounds and 1,700 assists within their first three seasons. Simmons is also the first player since the Lakers’ LeBron James (2003-06) and former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade (2003-06) to notch at least 350 steals and 150 blocks within their first three NBA campaigns.
The other four members of the All-NBA Third Team are Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Utah’s Rudy Gobert, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Houston’s Russell Westbrook. The All-NBA First Team consists of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis and LeBron James, Dallas’ Luka Dončić and Houston’s James Harden. The All-NBA Second Team is made up of Denver’s Nikola Jokić, the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul and Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.
The 2019-20 season marks the third straight season in which at least one 76er has been named to an All-NBA team (Embiid, Second Team 2018-19 and 2017-18). It is the first such streak since a five-year stretch from 1998-2003, which included a combined seven All-NBA nods between Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Allen Iverson (1998-2003) and Dikembe Mutombo (2000-02).
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