The top two vote-getters in this year's NBA Rookie of the Year voting, Charlotte Hornets guard LaMello Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, were both unanimous selections for the All-Rookie First Team.
The NBA announced the two rookie teams ahead of Thursday night's Game 6 between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Ball, who won the Rookie of the Year award, and Edwards, who finished second, were among four players who were nominated for either the first or second team on all 99 ballots submitted by a global panel of players and broadcasters. Who voted for everyone. The league's annual postseason awards.
Ball, the third overall pick in the 2020 draft, who averaged 15.7 points and 6.1 assists per game, won three Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards, while Edwards, the top pick in last year's draft, averaged 19.3 points per game - the most. Among the rookies above - and each of the last three months of the year won the Western Conference version of the award.
The other two were Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Halliburton, who received a second-team vote, and Detroit Pistons lead Saddique Bay, who received 63 first-team votes and 36 second-team selections. Rounding out the first team was Houston Rockets guard J'Sean Tate, a free agent who settled in an early role with the Rockets this season.
The second team included the quintet of first-round choices: New York Knicks guard Emmanuel Quickley, Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bain, Pistons center Isaiah Stewart, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams.
Thursday night's announcement kicks off the NBA's series of individual awards it hands out every offseason. The league is back in its traditional format of announcing each of them during the playoffs on separate nights, as things shifted as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as opposed to the end-of-season awards show.
In addition to the All-Rookie, All-Defensive and All-NBA teams, all of which were announced this week, the NBA awards six of its major individual awards: Most Valuable Player (Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic); Defensive Player of the Year (Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert); Sixth Man of the Year (jazz guard Jordan Clarkson); Coach of the Year (Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau); Most Improved Player (Knacks forward Julius Randall); and Rookie of the Year (Ball).