Leading vote-getter Bruce Bowen and defensive player of the year Ben Wallace were among six players who made the NBA All-Defensive first team on Thursday.
Bowen received 55 points, one more than Wallace, in making the All-Defensive team for the sixth consecutive season. The San Antonio forward is regarded as one of the league's best defenders for his ability to contain anyone from small guards to big forwards.
Wallace was selected to the first team for the fifth straight year. The Pistons center recently was chosen as the league's top defensive player for the fourth time in five years.
Joining them on the first team were Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, Sacramento's Ron Artest, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and New Jersey guard Jason Kidd. Bryant and Kidd tied for the final spot on the first team.
Detroit put Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince on the second team. The other second-team selections were the Spurs' Tim Duncan, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Denver center Marcus Camby.
Voting was done by the league's 30 head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
New Orleans point guard Chris Paul won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award on Wednesday after helping the Hornets double their win total in a season in which they were forced from their home city by Hurricane Katrina.
Paul was a runaway choice for the award, receiving all but one of the 125 first-place votes from a panel of media members from across the US and Canada. Utah guard Deron Williams -- who was taken with the No. 3 pick in last year's draft, one spot ahead of Paul -- received the only other first-place vote.
It was the largest margin of victory since San Antonio's David Robinson was a unanimous choice in 1990.
Paul led all rookies in points (16.1), assists (7.8), steals (2.2), double-doubles (21), minutes played (36.4) and triple-doubles (2). He also became the second NBA rookie to lead the league in steals, joining Brevin Knight.
He helped the Hornets -- who played all their home games in Oklahoma City -- win 38 games a year after they won just 18.
Paul was expected to miss two weeks after tearing a ligament on the inside of his right thumb in January. Instead, he decided to come back after missing only one game. Also fighting through injuries to his ribs and tailbone, Paul's presence helped the Hornets rise to sixth in the Western Conference at the All-Star break.
Upon his speedy return from the thumb injury, Paul said: "I only get one rookie season."
He made the most of it, keeping New Orleans in the playoff race until the final weekend of the season.
He's the second Hornets player to win the award, joining Larry Johnson (1991-1992). Emeka Okafor of the Charlotte Bobcats won the award last year.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS