New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul earns All-NBA honors
New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul was named All-NBA third team, which was announced by the league on Thursday.
It is the third time in his career, Paul has earned All-NBA honors after becoming the first Hornet in franchise history to earn first team honors for the 2007-08 season and being selected to the second team the following year.
For the season, Paul averaged 15.8 points, 9.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals in a team-high 80 games (all starts). Paul’s numbers ranked him first in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio, second in total assists, fourth in assists per game and 11th in free throw percentage.
He was named to the Western Conference All-Star squad for the fourth consecutive year and second time as a starter, becoming the first player in franchise history to start in two All-Star games. Paul was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for Nov 1 – Nov. 7 and was the recipient of the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for the month of October.
Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, the 2010-11 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, and LeBron James of the Miami Heat, winner of the two previous MVP awards, highlight the 2010-11 All-NBA First Team. James was the lone unanimous choice, receiving all 119 first-place votes. Joining James and Rose on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.
The All-NBA Second Team consists of guards Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, forwards Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, and center Amar’e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks.
Joining Paul on the All-NBA Third Team at guard was the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili, the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph at forward, and the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford at center.
Recently named to the 2010-11 NBA All-Defensive Second Team, Paul led the NBA in steals per game (2.4) to go along with an NBA-best 188 steals on the season. He also became one of only three players in NBA history (Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas) to record at least 7,000 points, 3,500 assists and 900 steals through their first 400 career games when he played in his 400th contest Feb. 11 at Orlando.
