LeBron James and Anthony Davis voted to first-team All-NBA

LeBron James and Anthony Davis
PORTLAND, OR – DECEMBER 6: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers high-five during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on December 6, 2019 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

It was decided before the bubble games started that all NBA awards would be based on the portion of the regular season that ended in March. This meant that the eight seeding games would have no impact on media members’ voting on the awards. This left LeBron James and Anthony Davis vying for MVP and DPOY, respectively, with both players coming in as runner-ups. Davis was also lucky enough to win first-team All-Defense honors.

In addition, the two were always presumed to be favorites for at least one of the three All-NBA teams, if not exclusively for the first team all-NBA. The two have done just that after it was announced by Chris Haynes/Yahoo Sports that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were both voted to be first-team All-NBA. LeBron James was voted in as one of the two forwards, while Anthony Davis was voted in as a center.

The most glaring omissions from the first-team are probably Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic, but it seems that the media did not feel either was even near deserving to supplant Anthony Davis or one of the other players on the list as Kawhi is a full 44 points behind the next closest first-team member.

This marks the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Lakers have had two players on the three all-NBA teams (Kobe Bryant was on the first-team while Dwight Howard was on the third-team). Also, it’s the first time since the 2003-04 season that the Lakers had two players on the first-team all-NBA (Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant).

LeBron James ended the season with 25.7 points, 10.6 assists (career-high and led the entire NBA), and 7.9 rebounds per game while Anthony Davis averaged 26.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks (third in the NBA) per game. The two players are right where they want to be, as they will be starting their Western Conference Finals series on Friday taking on the Denver Nuggets. Davis will be looking to advance to the first NBA Finals of his career while LeBron James will be looking to advance and win the fourth championship of his career.

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