Kevin Durant debuts on All-NBA First Team; LeBron James, Dwight Howard unanimous picks
Kevin Durant (photo. Jared McMillen)
The fun part about NBA awards season is the arguments. But this year, while the championship race seems wide open and ripe for plenty of debate, most of the regular season awards were no-brainers. LeBron for MVP? Easy. Dwight Howard for Defensive Player of the Year? Easy. Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year? Easy. (OK, not really; the fans in Milwaukee and the Bay Area will have a chip on their shoulders for the next decade over that one.)
So it’s only according to form that the All-NBA First Team, which was unveiled earlier today, is a pretty clear statement on who are the five best players in the NBA today, leaving little room for argument.
LeBron and Dwight were unanimous picks, getting all 122 possible First Team votes, and they’re joined by Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant. Kobe was near unanimous with 119 First Team votes, while KD had 107 and Wade got 81.
Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Amar’e Stoudemire make up the Second Team, with Nash getting the most First Team votes (24) among that group.
Joe Johnson, Brandon Roy, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan and Andrew Bogut make up the Third Team.
There weren’t really any surprises for me until that third group. I think Bogut was rightfully the third-best center in the League this year, I’m just surprised he got due credit. I was expecting somebody like Al Horford to get that spot. And with B-Roy missing so much time with injuries, I thought Derrick Rose or Jason Kidd would get his spot.
Other notes from the votes:
* Among players who didn’t crack the final 15, Chris Bosh had the most votes with 80 total. The next-highest, Rajon Rondo, was far behind with 47.
* People love J-Kidd. Back in February he was thrown onto the West All-Stars as an alternate over Aaron Brooks and Monta Ellis, yesterday he got one All-Defensive First Team vote, and Kidd got more All-NBA votes than D-Rose. I love Kidd, too, but that’s why I figured he would get a spot on the Third Team; even if he wasn’t one of the six best guards in the League, he always has voters in his corner. On that same note, Kevin Garnett got one All-NBA vote.
* Chris Paul played 45 games, his team missed the playoffs, and yet he still got more votes than Manu Ginobili (75 games).
* I’m surprised Zach Randolph got a lot more votes than Josh Smith, Paul Pierce and Gerald Wallace. Not complaining, just surprised.
* Notables who didn’t get a single vote: Ray Allen, Stephen Jackson, Joakim Noah, Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O’Neal, Monta Ellis, Aaron Brooks, Ron Artest, Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Andre Iguodala, LaMarcus Aldridge, Russell Westbrook, Hedo Turkoglu and Caron Butler. Not saying they should have gotten a vote, though.
* No rookies got a vote.
* Nobody from the Pistons, Warriors, Rockets, Wolves, Sixers, Kings or Wizards got a vote.
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May 6th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Remembering '70 says:
Bosh is most likely out due to the fact that the Raptors missed out on the playoffs yet again.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
DH says:
Good point #1 – If you look at the list, every one of those teams made the playoffs. I wonder how heavily that factored into the voting?
May 6th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
JH says:
What about Boozer?
May 6th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Kermit The Washington says:
Pau Gasol on the THIRD team? WOW. That’s a horrible oversight…second team easy.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Mcw88 says:
wow no celtics at all, not even for Rondo tho I guess his 1st defense team makes up for it.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Papa Smurf says:
Almost impossible to disagree with the first team. Hard to see Rondo not sneaking into the third team, though.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Rizwan says:
How the hell did Stephen Jackson get a 5th place MVP vote but not even a All-NBA 3rd team vote?!
Idiot who voted for him, man up and let us know who you are.
And did anyone catch Mike ‘Moron’ Yam on NBA Today on ESPN Radio calling Steve Nash basically overrated. I nearly chucked my iPhone on the street after listening to that crap!!!!!!
Granted he probably shouldnt have had the 2nd MVP but to call him a system player is unbelievable. He’s clearly one of the top 12 PGs ever!!
Inexcusable if you ask me!
May 6th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Rizwan says:
Brandon Roy should have not been on there. He gets too much love if you ask me.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
oaxiac says:
Congrats to Bogut.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
control says:
Bosh was getting MVP talk for the first month of the season…then he gets injured and the Raps quite literally go from being the hottest team in the league to the coldest…and Bosh misses out on making what should have been at least the second team.
Amare should have been third team, not second. Nash maybe could have taken First team instead of Kobe…be honest Laker fans, Kobe playing injured and has dropped way too many 30 points off of 30 shot games this season. He’s tried TOO hard to prove he’s got it and can play injured, his team would have benefited if he would have laid back. Steve Nash took a team that missed the playoffs last year, and was expected to be a lotto team this year storming into 3rd place in the West. Take Steve Nash off the Suns and that team loses 30 wins at least.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Papa Smurf says:
Rizwan,
Yeah, I was thinking Rondo over Roy.
As for Nash, I think a lot of people bash him because of he is outspoken with respect to his political views. His play speaks for itself.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Kermit The Washington says:
@Rizwan…
I agree to a point. Nash is “overrated”, only for lack of a better term, because of the 2 MVPs. That shouldn’t have happened.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
johnsacrimoni says:
The only surprises to me were Bosh and Rondo not making 3rd team and I think Duncan should have made second team over Amare. It’s ridiculous that the league still recognizes Amare as a center(even though he rarely plays it) and not Duncan(even though he always plays it).
May 6th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Why is it notable that Kevin Love didn’t get any all nba team votes? Should he have? I don’t think so. Not even close.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Rizwan says:
@ 12
I wouldnt have a problem if he phrased it like you did, but the guy was hating on him hard for someone reason. Maybe he’s a Spurs fan!
@ 13
Fair if the Spurs dont want him to be recognised as a center during All Star balloting. Cant have it both ways, but I do agree with you. Amare did deserve 2nd team selection.
@ 14
Completely agree.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
karizmatic says:
I would have had Melo on the first team instead of Durant, but I can’t argue the point.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Baby Huey says:
Brandon Roy gets too much love?
Blazers with Brandon Roy 42-23
Blazers without Brandon Roy 9-11
’nuff said
May 6th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
K Dizzle says:
I would say Bosh got screwed but he did get a good share of votes everything already posted considered. Nash and DWill would be first team any other year, but it’s tough to displace Kobe or Flash.
I can’t see Melo over Durant tho.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Rizwan says:
@ 17
Doesnt mean he’s All NBA in an injury hit season
May 6th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
K Dizzle says:
Just to start up some sh*t:
Did Tim Duncan really have a better season than Chris Bosh? Bosh has better numbers than Tim in everything except assists. I understand Tim gets some sentimental votes, but I’d go out on a limb and say if Ginobili doesn’t become the best guard in the league for about 2-3 months, Spurs miss the playoffs.
One more thing:
For those sayin Nash winnin the back to back MVPs was undeserved, please explain which one he didn’t deserve. The first one where he took the Suns from 29 wins to 62 wins and the team went got crushed in goin 0-4 in the 4 games he missed or the 2nd one where there was no Amare and the team still got to the conference finals.
If I remember correctly, he almost won a 3rd straight mvp and if Dirk and the Mavs don’t win 67 games, then there’d really be something to talk about. Ironic thing is the year he didn’t win the mvp was maybe his best year numbers wise and the team got 61 wins.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
bdk23 says:
EXACTLY WHY AMARE SHOULDNT BE ON THE LIST @ 20
May 6th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ KDizzle
I forgot which one but the MVP where he was up against Shaq who was MURKIN the league right after the Laker trade..
Shaq was by far the most dominant force in the league that year..
Nash’s #’s were worthy of discussion but Shaq was bonkers that year..
May 6th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Baby Huey says:
@19 – it does mean he deserves every bit of love that comes his way
May 6th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Jay says:
@Kermit
2nd team instead of…..? It’s easy to say a player is good enough to be on a team but he needs to be better than the players on that team. Amare, Dirk, and Melo were all better than Pau this season. 3rd team is legit.
I think the biggest crime was that Rondo not only didn’t make a team, but that he wasn’t even first runner-up to do so. He is easily the most consistent and, at times, the best player on a championship contender. I would’ve definitely had him over JJ or Bogut (if JJ can be considered a F).
May 6th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ Lakeshow
I been askin this question for years now and nobody wanna touch it but another Laker fan lol
Been tryin to get opinions from dudes who been sayin Nash didn’t deserve 2 when he was about 15-20 games from gettin 3 in a row.
The votin that year was tight tho.
2004-05 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD VOTING RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts
Steve Nash, Phoenix 65 54 7 1 0 1066
Shaquille O’Neal, Miami 58 61 3 3 1 1032
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 0 4 43 30 16 349
Tim Duncan, San Antonio 1 0 40 33 19 328
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 2 4 20 23 23 240
LeBron James, Cleveland 0 0 7 11 25 93
Tracy McGrady, Houston 0 1 1 8 8 44
Dwyane Wade, Miami 0 2 2 1 16 43
Ray Allen, Seattle 0 0 2 8 7 41
Amaré Stoudemire, Phoenix 1 1 1 5 4 41
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 0 0 1 2 4 15
Gilbert Arenas, Washington 0 0 0 1 1 4
Vince Carter, New Jersey 0 0 0 1 0 3
Marcus Camby, Denver 0 0 0 0 1 1
P.J. Brown, New Orleans 0 0 0 0 1 1
Shawn Marion, Phoenix 0 0 0 0 1 1
Nash won it close basically by 7 votes so it wasn’t like he won it by a huge margin. Shaq took Miami from 42 wins to 59 wins in the east, but Nash took Phoenix from 29 wins to 62 in the west. Shaq put up like 23 and 10 so us Laker fans know that those numbers aren’t anywhere close to his LA numbers whereas in that 3 year span, Nash put up ridiculous numbers, shooting and assists-wise.
Good points tho. It coulda gone to either player as shown by even the voters. I’m just not feelin dudes actin like Nash got it undeserved
May 6th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Cori says:
Brandon Roy? I understand that the team might have been much better with him on the court, but he wasn’t there enough. How he gets all NBA over Rondo or Aaron Brooks shocks me. How did Brooks not even receive a vote?
May 6th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Cori says:
Brandon Roy? I understand that the team might have been much better with him on the court, but he wasn’t there enough. How he gets all NBA over Rondo or Aaron Brooks shocks me. How did Brooks not even receive a vote? He deserved it over Roy…
May 7th, 2010 at 3:11 am
Ctp says:
People are gonna think I’m nuts, but THIS SEASON I would swap Flashs spot out for D Will. I think Deron has had a better more effective season that flash.
You know what’s funny. Last year Deron was putting up pretty much the same exact numbers and didn’t even make the 3rd team.
I’d put Rondo over Roy also.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Charles Kirk says:
Personally I think that Bosh and Rondo should’ve at the very least made 3rd team. You can definitely argue Bosh over Stoudemire as Bosh is much better at creating his own offense and is a much better rebounder. As for Rondo it is pretty difficult to argue him over Deron Williams and Steve Nash. I can’t complain to much about the first team I think that Melo is better than Durant but, I wish that there could’ve been a tie between the two so that they could both get their due. Also, Austin you do realize that Sacramento is apart of the Bay Area as well.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Charles Kirk says:
@28
I agree. It is a damn shame that he just made his first All Star game.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Badger says:
“Also, Austin you do realize that Sacramento is apart of the Bay Area as well.”
@Charles Kirk — You sure about that? I always thought the Bay as just San Fran and Oakland, but it says here on good old Wikipedia that Bay Area = Frisco, Oakland, San Jose, Fremont, Redwood City, Fairfield, San Rafael, Vallejo, Santa Rosa, Napa, and Gilroy. Doesn’t mention Sacramento.
May 7th, 2010 at 9:12 am
sh!tfaced says:
Roy, Chris Paul and KG got votes?! Must be a prankster or some outdated asshole out there who wasn’t paying attention all year.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Ekstor says:
Regarding Nash vs Shaq in 04-05… people point to the 17+ win differential for Miami with Shaq. People forget that this was Wade’s 2nd season, in which he played 17 more games than his injury-plagued first season. He was vastly improved from year 1 to year 2 and, in my mind, their most important player.
As for PHX, you could take Amare off that team, they’d still win… you could take Marion off that team, they’d still win. Take Nash off and they’re lottery bound.