Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Cavaliers’ LeBron James headline 2015-16 All-NBA First Team
Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers lead the 2015-16 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today. Curry is the only player to receive First Team votes on all 129 ballots, earning First Team honors for the second straight year. James (125 First Team votes) has been named to the First Team for the 10th time in 13 seasons, tying seven players for the second-most selections in NBA history.
Joining Curry (645 total points) and James (637 points) are three players making their debuts on the All-NBA First Team: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (627 points, 120 First Team votes), San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (575 points, 94 First Team votes) and Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (317 points, 39 First Team votes).
The All-NBA Second Team consists of forwards Kevin Durant of the Thunder and Draymond Green of the Warriors, center DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings and guards Chris Paul of the Clippers and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers.
The All-NBA Third Team is composed of forwards Paul George of the Indiana Pacers and LaMarcus Aldridge of the Spurs, center Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons and guards Klay Thompson of the Warriors and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors.
The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters in 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. Voters were asked to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position where they received the most votes.
Curry helped the Warriors (73-9) to the best record in NBA history and won the Kia NBA MVP Award for the second year in a row, joining Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Steve Nash as the only guards to earn the honor in consecutive seasons. Curry led the league in scoring (30.1 ppg), three-pointers made (an NBA-record 402), free throw percentage (90.8) and steals (2.14 spg), along with averaging 6.7 assists and a career-high 5.4 rebounds. He shot a career-high 50.4 percent from the field, the NBA’s highest mark among guards, and made 45.4 percent from three-point range, good for second in the league. Curry became the seventh qualifying player in NBA history to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc and 90 percent from the foul line.
James joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Bob Pettit and Jerry West as 10-time First Team selections, one behind the all-time record shared by Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. In 2015-16, James ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring (25.3 ppg), his league-record 12th straight season averaging at least 25.0 points. A three-time Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month this season, James added 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists (tied for eighth in the NBA) and shot 52.0 percent from the field to lead the Cavaliers to an East-best 57-25 record.
Westbrook averaged 23.5 points (tied for eighth in the NBA) and career highs of 10.4 assists (second in the NBA) and 7.8 rebounds, joining Oscar Robertson as the only players in league history to average at least 23 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for a season (Robertson did it four times). The Thunder guard also recorded 18 triple-doubles, equaling the most in the NBA since Magic Johnson reached that total in 1981-82. Westbrook notched seven triple-doubles in March, the most by an NBA player in a calendar month since Michael Jordan had the same number in April 1989.
Leonard was named Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, the first non-center back-to-back winner since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91. Behind Leonard, the Spurs (67-15) produced their best regular season in team history and held opponents to league lows of 92.9 points per game and 96.6 points per 100 possessions. A first-time All-Star this season, Leonard averaged a career-high 21.2 points and ranked third in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (44.3).
DeAndre Jordan led the NBA in field goal percentage (70.3) for the fourth season in a row and finished second in rebounding (13.8 rpg) and blocks (2.30 bpg). The eight-year veteran became the first player in NBA history to shoot at least 70 percent in multiple seasons. Jordan averaged a career-high 12.7 points and tied for fourth in the NBA in double-doubles with 49.
For the third year in a row, complete media voting results for each NBA annual award will be posted on NBA.com/official after the announcement of each winner. Click here for those results.
Below are the voting results for the 2015-16 All-NBA Teams. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.
2015-16 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
Position Player Team 1st Team 2nd Team 3rd Team Total
Forward LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers 125 4 — 637
Forward Kawhi Leonard San Antonio Spurs 94 35 — 575
Center DeAndre Jordan Los Angeles Clippers 39 36 14 317
Guard Stephen Curry Golden State Warriors 129 — — 645
Guard Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City Thunder 120 9 — 627
2015-16 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
Position Player Team 1st Team 2nd Team 3rd Team Total
Forward Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder 36 90 2 452
Forward Draymond Green Golden State Warriors 40 74 9 431
Center DeMarcus Cousins Sacramento Kings 32 28 33 277
Guard Chris Paul Los Angeles Clippers 8 101 10 353
Guard Damian Lillard Portland Trail Blazers — 48 73 217
2015-16 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM
Position Player Team 1st Team 2nd Team 3rd Team Total
Forward Paul George Indiana Pacers — 28 73 157
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge San Antonio Spurs 3 11 55 103
Center Andre Drummond Detroit Pistons 13 26 30 173
Guard Klay Thompson Golden State Warriors — 37 53 164
Guard Kyle Lowry Toronto Raptors — 35 50 155
Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses): James Harden, Houston, 106; Paul Millsap, Atlanta, 84; Anthony Davis, New Orleans, 76 (1); Al Horford, Atlanta, 76 (2); Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota, 44; DeMar DeRozan, Toronto, 26; Hassan Whiteside, Miami, 24 (1); Isaiah Thomas, Boston, 20; Pau Gasol, Chicago, 16 (2); Jimmy Butler, Chicago, 12; Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas, 8; John Wall, Washington, 7; Kemba Walker, Charlotte, 6; Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 3; Gordon Hayward, Utah, 3; Dwight Howard, Houston, 3; Carmelo Anthony, New York, 2; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 2; Andrew Bogut, Golden State, 1; Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers, 1; Brook Lopez, Brooklyn, 1; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 1.
