Kevin Durant, LeBron James headline 2013-14 All-NBA First Team
Kevin Durant was the leading vote-getter for All-NBA First team. (USATSI)
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With a unanimous outpouring of top votes for Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, the 2013-14 MVP headlines the All-NBA First Team for this season. Durant received 125 first place votes, one more than fellow All-NBA First Team member LeBron James of the Miami Heat, to be the top vote-getter when the league announced the winners for the All-NBA teams. Rounding out the first team with Durant and James are Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
The second team comprised Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs as the guards, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Blake Griffin of Clippers as the forwards, and Dwight Howard of the Rockets as the center. LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trail Blazers, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Al Jefferson of the Charlotte Bobcats, Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns, and Damian Lillard of the Blazers were given the honor of All-NBA Third Team.
The media voted on the All-NBA teams with five points going for first-team votes, three points for second-team votes, and one point for third-team votes.
All-NBA First Team
Forward: Kevin Durant, Thunder (125 first-team votes, 625 points)
Forward: LeBron James, Heat (124 first-team votes, 623 points)
Center: Joakim Noah, Bulls (101 first-team votes, 551 points)
Guard: James Harden, Rockets (73 first-team votes, 502 points)
Guard: Chris Paul, Clippers (86 first-team votes, 540 points)
All-NBA Second Team
Forward: Blake Griffin, Clippers (5 first-team votes, 350 points)
Forward: Kevin Love, Wolves (2 first-team votes, 237 points)
Center: Dwight Howard, Rockets (9 first-team votes, 226 points)
Guard: Tony Parker, Spurs (14 first-team votes, 210 points)
Guard: Stephen Curry, Warriors (65 first-team votes, 489 points)
All-NBA Third Team
Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers (2 first-team votes, 159 points)
Forward: Paul George, Pacers (4 first-team votes, 171 points)
Center: Al Jefferson, Bobcats (4 first-team votes, 191 points)
Guard: Goran Dragic, Suns (1 first-team votes, 115 points)
Guard: Damian Lillard, Blazers (2 first-team votes, 115 points)
Also receiving votes for All-NBA teams:
Carmelo Anthony, New York, 86 (1 First Team vote); John Wall, Washington, 70; Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 63 (1); DeMar DeRozan, Toronto, 56; Anthony Davis, New Orleans, 40 (1); Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas, 37 (1); Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City, 32 (1); Kyle Lowry, Toronto, 29; DeAndre Jordan, L.A. Clippers, 21; Roy Hibbert, Indiana, 17; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 16 (2); DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento, 14 (1); Kyrie Irving, Cleveland, 7; Dwyane Wade, Miami, 6; Mike Conley, Memphis, 4; Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City, 4; Zach Randolph, Memphis, 4; Joe Johnson, Brooklyn, 4; Lance Stephenson, Indiana, 3; Ty Lawson, Denver, 2; Paul Millsap, Atlanta, 2; Chris Bosh, Miami, 1; Andre Drummond, Detroit, 1; Monta Ellis, Dallas, 1; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio, 1.
Basketball Hot News
LeBron says his legacy will be more than just basketball
SAN ANTONIO — In our world of instant analysis (guilty, as charged), the idea that a player’s career having time to unfold naturally, to wait to try to define a legacy before a player has left the game and there is perspective has been largely washed away.
As has the perspective that a player can be three dimensional and have a life and legacy besides what happens in the arena.
Just more than an hour before tip-off of Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals — a series that will have a big say ultimately in his on-the-court legacy LeBron James returned to calling the legacy talk stupid, saying it misses the big picture.
“Our guys are still trying to define what they are trying to accomplish in the course of their careers,” James said in the Heat locker room. “To talk about it right now is stupid. Let guys play out their years…
“And for me a legacy isn’t just basketball. I think people get caught up in what you do on the floor, what you do on the gridiron, what you do on the diamond and so on and so on, and just try to define your legacy just by how you play the sport. I think my calling is much bigger than just basketball, to say what my legacy is on the floor and to say that’s all it is stupid.”
Stupid or not, legacy talk will be all over these NBA Finals.
As will comparisons to last season.
Is this the same Miami Heat team as last season, the one that beat the Spurs in a thrilling seven-game series? Depends on who you ask.
“We talked about it from the first day of training camp that it wouldn’t benefit us to try to compare too much to the previous year,” Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said. “Let’s get on to the new journey, the new challenge and this one already feels a little bit different than last year.”
“We’re pretty much the same,” LeBron said. “We’ve grown together as far as being together for another year, but as far as our mental toughness we’re just like we were last year. We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low over the course of a series, we just play even keel.”
They better have grown, because this Heat team is about to run into a Spurs team that has grown, that is better than a year ago.
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