Why radio presenter refused to put Victor Wembanyama on his All-NBA First Team

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Victor Wembanyama had the kind of season that usually removes any room for debate.

He finished third in the MVP race and became the first unanimous DPOY in NBA history, making his All-NBA status appear obvious.

Yet SiriusXM Radio presenter Justin Termine was the lone voter to leave him off First Team All-NBA before explaining why.

Justin Termine says his vote was about justice for past centers

Termine argued that his vote was less about Wembanyama and more about how previous great centers were judged.

“First, let me say this: I voted for Wembanyama third for MVP, and I actually think he’s a better player than SGA. I think he is the best player in the world right now, but I thought Jokic had a better regular season at the same position,” he said in a video shared on his social media channels.

Termine added: “In my opinion, it is unfair historically to those that came before us, who I have great respect for, that those guys at center were not allowed to be on the first team at the same time. So it’s unfair to Wilt and Russell and all the other guys who couldn’t make first team at the same time just because somebody played the same position as them.

“They just changed the rule recently because Embiid had been the second best player for a couple of years, but he had to keep making second teams because Jokic was better. But in my opinion, that’s not fair to the centers of the past who got screwed.”

Fans argue Justin Termine missed the point

Many fans disagreed, arguing that position-less voting was created to prevent that exact unfairness from continuing.

For instance, reporter Brett Siegel wrote: “So you don’t follow the current day voting rules and regulations as one of the 100 media voters responsible for upholding the integrity of the voting process. The NBA changed the All-NBA rules to positionless so you wouldn’t have this problem.”

That response captured the wider frustration. Termine wanted to protect history, but critics felt he preserved the same problem the NBA had already tried to fix.