James Harden named All-NBA first team

HOUSTON – Houston Rockets guard James Harden was named to the All-NBA first team Thursday.  

For the third straight season, he was selected to the first team on all 100 ballots submitted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.  

Harden is the only player to be named at the All-NBA first team in each of the past three seasons.

Harden has been named All-NBA in six of his seven seasons as a Rocket (third team in 2012-13; first team in 2013-14, 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2017-18).  Hakeem Olajuwon (12) is the only other Rocket with more than five All-NBA selections.

This season, Harden averaged 36.1 points (1st in NBA), 7.5 assists (7th in NBA), 6.6 rebounds and 2.03 steals (2nd in NBA).  He became the first player in NBA history to have averaged at least 35.0 ppg and 7.0 apg in a single season, and joined Michael Jordan (1988-89) as the only players to have averaged at least 30.0 ppg, 7.0 apg, 6.0 rpg and 2.00 spg.

Harden scored 50 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 13, marking the first of 32 consecutive games scoring at least 30 points which is the second-longest in league history.  From the start of Harden’s streak through the end of the regular season, Houston had the second-best winning percentage (.732) of any team.

Harden led the NBA in scoring by 8.09 points per game, marking the highest differential between the league’s top two qualified scorers since Wilt Chamberlain outscored Elgin Baylor by 10.84 ppg in 1962-63.  Harden scored 40 plus points 28 times this season, including 50 plus nine times, and 60 plus twice.  The Rockets won 75% of his 40-point games (21-7 mark).

Houston Rockets guard James Harden was named All-NBA First Team on Thursday. For the third straight season, he was selected to the First Team on all 100 ballots

Posted by KPRC2 Randy McIlvoy on Thursday, May 23, 2019