May 9, 2008

2007-08 All-NBA Teams

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Former Demon Deacon All-Americans Chris Paul and Tim Duncan were named to the All-NBA Teams on Friday. Paul made the First Team as a guard, while Duncan was a Second Team selection at forward.

Wake Forest is the only school to have multiple alumni on this season's All-NBA Teams. This marks the first time Wake has had multiple All-NBA selections.

Only five schools overall were represented on the teams, including Duke (Carlos Boozer), Illinois (Deron Williams), Kansas (Paul Pierce), Santa Clara (Steve Nash) and Wake Forest (Paul, Duncan).

Paul was the only First Team honoree who went to college before entering the NBA. The other four players on the First Team include Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard and Lebron James - all of whom went to the league straight out of high school.

Bryan received the most First Team votes (127) and the most total points in the balloting (635). Paul was close behind Bryant in second with 124 First Team votes and 629 total points.

This marks Paul's first All-NBA selection of his three-year career. He led the New Orleans Hornets to their first Southwest Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Paul paced the league in assists (11.6 apg) and steals (2.7 spg), becoming the first player since John Stockton in 1992 to lead the NBA in both categories in the same season. Paul also averaged a team-high 21.1 points per game.

Duncan has been named All-NBA for 10 straight seasons since entering the league in 1997-98. He is an eight-time selection to the First Team and a two-time Second Team honoree.

This season Duncan led the defending champion San Antonio Spurs to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Duncan averaged 19.3 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game. He finished fifth in the league in rebounding.

Fellow Wake Forest alum Josh Howard also received votes in the All-NBA balloting. Howard is a fifth-year forward with the Dallas Mavericks.