No Spurs made the All-NBA team for the second straight year

The NBA has released the 2019-20 All-NBA teams, and for the second straight year not a single Spur made the list.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone considering the Spurs’ abhorrent record (for them) and underwhelming performance before the COVID-19 hiatus began, and even though they played significantly better in the Bubble, those eight games weren’t enough to sway any opinions, especially considering the Spurs still missed the playoffs — a near requirement some seasons, and clearly the case this year — and one of their two best players from the season (LaMarcus Aldridge) did not even play after undergoing shoulder surgery.

That being said, if a case can be even remotely made for a potential snub, it’s DeMar DeRozan. If there was just an All-NBA team for the the eight regular season Bubble games, he would have made it, plus he had a historical run earlier in the season. It may be hard to remember due to the long gap in play and the minor fact that this season will be mostly remembered as a disappointment, but he set the NBA record for longest streak of games by a guard with 20+ points and 3+ assists while shooting at least 50% from the floor. He accomplished those stats over the course of 13 games between December 21 and January 17, surpassing Michael Jordan’s record of 12 games. The only player to do it for longer in NBA history was Wilt Chamberlain at 19 games.

Even without DeRozan’s stats from those 13 games, this was still one of the better statistical seasons of his career, as he averaged 22.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on a career-high 53.1% shooting. He even earned a Western Conference Player of the Week in there. In another world where the Spurs post a better record and make the playoffs, maybe that’s enough for him to snatch a spot on the All-NBA team (especially considering it was such an injury-plagued season for superstars, leaving the race more open than usual), but alas, the Spurs playoff streak was broken, and another one extended another year likely as a result.

Before last season, at least one Spur had made the All-NBA team every season since Tim Duncan’s rookie year. Can new streaks for making the playoffs and/or having an All-NBA player be set next season? Only time will tell.