MVP Bryant heads all-NBA first team

Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was the lone unanimous selection to headline the all-NBA first team, the league announced Thursday.

 Bryant made the first team for the third straight season and fifth overall in his sparkling, 12-year NBA career. He averaged 28.3 points along with 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game en route to carrying the Lakers (57-22) to the best regular-season record in the Western Conference.

 The Lakers' superstar is joined by NBA defensive player of the year Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics, NBA scoring champ LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and first-timers Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets.

 In being selected to his fourth first team, Garnett led the Celtics to a league-best 66-16 mark - an NBA record 42-game turnaround from the previous year - by averaging 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

 James earned first team honours for the second time in his career, averaging a league-best 30 points per game for the Cavaliers.

 Howard averaged a league-best 14.2 rebounds and team highs of 20.7 points and 2.2 blocked shots, while leading Orlando to its first division title since 1995-96.

 Paul, runner up to Bryant in the MVP balloting, took the Hornets to their first South-West Division title. The speedy point guard led the league in assists (11.6) and steals (2.7) while averaging a team- high 21.1 points per game.

 The all-NBA second team consists of Phoenix's Steve Nash and Utah's Deron Williams at guard, San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki at forward and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire at centre.

 The all-NBA third team includes Argentine Manu Ginobili of San Antonio and Houston's Tracy McGrady at guard, Utah's Carlos Boozer and Boston's Paul Pierce at forward and China's Yao Ming of Houston at centre.

 The voting was done by a panel of 127 media members who cover the NBA on a regular basis.