LeBron James was a unanimous selection to the 2008-09 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today.
Joining James on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
The All-NBA Second Team consists of New Orleans’ Chris Paul and Portland’s Brandon Roy at guard, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Boston’s Paul Pierce at forward, and Houston’s Yao Ming at center.
The All-NBA Third Team includes Denver’s Chauncey Billups and San Antonio’s Tony Parker at guard, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Paul Gasol at forward, and Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal at center.
I was hoping there was an outside shot at Granger making the 3rd team, but no such luck. I see that Carmelo made the 3rd team though, and I actually think Granger had a more impressive season than Melo did (I live out here in Nugget land so I get to watch them a lot). I think that team success factored into this a lot more than individual play. I don't really have a complaint with that, but take a look at how Granger stacked up to Melo (3rd team) and Pierce (2nd team).
LINK. I'm going to try posting the table here and see how it looks, but I'm betting I'll have to delete it for clarity. Anyway, I wouldn't trade Granger for Pierce (mainly due to the age difference, but even in a swap for just next season). I also wouldn't swap him for Carmelo.
Player G FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Anthony 66 8.1 18.3 .443 1.0 2.6 .371 5.6 7.1 .793 1.6 5.2 6.8 3.4 1.1 0.4 3.0 3.0 22.8
Granger 67 8.5 19.1 .447 2.7 6.7 .404 6.0 6.9 .878 0.7 4.4 5.1 2.7 1.0 1.4 2.5 3.1 25.8
Pierce 81 6.7 14.6 .457 1.5 3.8 .391 5.7 6.8 .830 0.7 5.0 5.6 3.6 1.0 0.3 2.8 2.6 20.5
