Best on offense (Durant), defense (Howard) pace All-NBA team

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, wiiner of the 2009-10 Most Valuable Player presented by Kia Motors, and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, winner of the 2009-10 NBA Defensive Player of the Year presented by Kia Motors, were unanimous selections to the 2009-10 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced Thursday. Joining James and Howard on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

James, who earns First Team honors for the third straight season and fourth time overall, was second in the NBA in scoring (29.7 points per game) and averaged 8.6 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks, leading Cleveland to an NBA-best 61-21 regular season record. James' 8.6 assists were the highest assists average by a forward in NBA history (Larry Bird, 7.6 apg, 1986-87). In his seventh season, James was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month four consecutive times (Nov.-Feb.), the second consecutive season he won that award on four occasions.

Howard, an All-NBA First Team selection for the third consecutive season, became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic) in consecutive seasons, averaging 13.2 rebounds and 2.78 blocks. Howard also paced the league in field-goal percentage (.612), becoming the first player to lead the NBA in all three of those categories since the NBA started keeping blocked shots. Howard recorded an NBA-high 64 double-doubles, including three 20-point/20-rebound efforts.
Bryant, an All-NBA First Team selection for the fifth straight season and eighth time in his career, finished fourth in the league in scoring (27 ppg), while averaging 5.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds. Bryant led the Lakers to a Western Conference-best 57-25 record. Among active players, only Tim Duncan (nine) has more First Team selections. Shaquille O'Neal also has eight.

Durant earns his first All-NBA First Team selection after becoming the youngest player (21 years and 197 days) to lead the league in scoring (30.1 ppg). His 756 free throws made was the sixth highest single-season total in NBA history and the highest since Michael Jordan made 833 in the 1986-87 season, while his .900 percentage from the line ranked sixth overall. Durant earned NBA Western Conference Player of the Month honors in April after scoring 30-plus points in seven consecutive games to close the regular season.
Earning his second straight First Team selection, Wade was the league's fifth-leading scorer (26.5 ppg), while also averaging 6.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals. Wade joined James as the lone players to rank in the top 10 in points, assists and rebounds.

The All-NBA Second Team consists of Phoenix's Steve Nash and Utah's Deron Williams at guard, Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki at forward, and Phoenix's Amar'e Stoudemire at center.
The All-NBA Third Team includes Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Portland's Brandon Roy at guard, San Antonio's Tim Duncan and the Los Angeles Lakers' Paul Gasol at forward, and Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut at center.

The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

2009-10 All-NBA Teams

FIRST TEAM Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points Forward LeBron James, Cleveland (122) 610 Forward Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (107) 579 Center Dwight Howard, Orlando (122) 610 Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (119) 604 Guard Dwyane Wade, Miami (81) 520 SECOND TEAM Forward Carmelo Anthony, Denver (9) 321 Forward Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (10) 356 Center Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix (2) 239 Guard Steve Nash, Phoenix (24) 366 Guard Deron Williams, Utah (14) 343 THIRD TEAM Forward Tim Duncan, San Antonio -- 125 Forward Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers -- 94 Center Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee -- 149 Guard Joe Johnson, Atlanta -- 118 Guard Brandon Roy, Portland -- 87

Orlando's Howard, Boston's Rondo lead All-Defensive Team

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, winner of the 2009-10 Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by Kia Motors, and guard Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics headline the NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced Wednesday. By totaling 57 points overall, including 28 First Team votes, Howard edged Rondo (50 points overall and 23 First Team votes) as the leading vote-getter.
Also selected to the All-Defensive First Team are forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (45 points), Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (34 points) and Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace (30 points).
Howard became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic) in consecutive seasons, averaging 13.2 rebounds and 2.78 blocks. He also became only the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding for at least three consecutive seasons. With Howard anchoring the defense, the Magic allowed 95.3 points a game, which ranked fourth in the NBA, and held the opposition to a league-low .438 shooting, including 24 games in which opponents shot under .400. Orlando held the opposition to fewer than 100 points 57 times and to fewer than 90 points 24 times.
The NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, guards Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Thabo Sefolosha of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and forwards Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Duncan has been selected to the NBA All-Defensive team 13 consecutive seasons.
The voting panel consisted of the NBA's 30 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Two points were awarded for a First Team vote and one point was awarded for a Second Team vote.

2009-10 NBA All-Defensive Team

First Team

Position Player, Team 1st 2nd Points Center Dwight Howard, Orlando 28 1 57 Guard Rajon Rondo, Boston 23 4 50 Forward LeBron James, Cleveland 20 5 45 Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 13 8 34 Forward Gerald Wallace, Charlotte 11 8 30

Second Team

Position Player, Team 1st 2nd Points Center Tim Duncan, San Antonio 8 5 21 Guard Dwyane Wade, Miami 8 4 20 Forward Josh Smith, Atlanta 6 8 20 Forward Anderson Varejao, Cleveland 2 11 15 Guard Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City 3 8 14

LeBron James goes back-to-back with second Kia MVP award

LeBron James won his second straight NBA MVP award Sunday, dominating the voting just as he dominated on court all season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers star received 116 of a possible 123 first-place votes to win in a landslide over Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant. Durant was picked first on four ballots and Orlando center Dwight Howard, who finished fourth, received the other three first-place votes.

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant had no first-place votes and finished third.

Voting was done by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters, and this year one ballot was cast by fans in an online vote. Players were awarded 10 points for first, seven points for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.

James finished with 1,205 points, nearly doubling Durant (609). His margin of victory is the second largest in history, topped by only teammate Shaquille O'Neal, who by 799 points in 2000.

James is the 10th player to win the award in consecutive seasons, joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash. Russell, Chamberlain and Bird won it three times in a row.

"I never imagined I would be on a list with names like that," James said. "Those are players I always looked up to when I was a kid."

For the second straight year, James accepted the Maurice Podoloff Trophy in his hometown of Akron.

Last May, he returned to St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and received the award in the quaint gymnasium in front of family, friends and the student body. He chose a larger but still familiar stage this year, opting for Rhodes Arena on the campus of the University of Akron.

As James' popularity soared as a prep star, his high school moved many of its games to Rhodes to accommodate overflow crowds and a growing media contingent interested in his story.

The ceremony was open to the public, and fans, many of them wearing an assortment of No. 23 James jerseys, stood in line for hours for their chance to witness yet another coronation of Ohio's basketball king.

"Akron Ohio is my home," he said to loud cheers. "Akron Ohio is my life and I love this city."

More than 3,000 fans chanted "M-V-P" when James finally walked on stage to accept his award. He was later joined on the podium by his teammates, each of whom congratulated him with a hug before surrounding him as he completed his acceptance speech.

James led the Cavaliers to 61 regular-season wins. He averaged 29.7 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds.