For the fourth straight year and sixth out of seven overall, Houston Rockets star James Harden was voted to the All-NBA First Team. Having earned the honor in six different seasons, Harden has tied Hakeem Olajuwon with the most All-NBA First Team honors in franchise history.
For the 2019-20 season, Harden is joined on the First Team by Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks; LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers; and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. The awards were voted on by a a global panel of 100 media members.
In all, Harden received 89 votes for the All-NBA First Team; nine votes for the Second Team; and two for the Third Team, giving him 474 out of a possible 500 points. Only Antetokounmpo and James, who were unanimous First Team selections, had more votes.
Harden is also one of three finalists in the league’s 2019-20 MVP race alongside Antetokounmpo and James, with the winner expected to be named later this week. Harden has finished second, first, and second in MVP voting over the previous three seasons, respectively.
NBA All-First Team is announced. pic.twitter.com/Rpz53D3r46
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) September 16, 2020
In the 2019-20 regular season, Harden averaged 34.3 points, 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game, and he joined Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson as the only players to lead the league in points and steals in the same season. He shot 44.4% from the field and 35.5% on 3-pointers.
With that scoring average, Harden became just the fourth player since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976 to win a scoring title in three straight years, joining Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, and George Gervin.
[lawrence-related id=36260,36207]
Harden also won the scoring title in the 2018-19 season, when he led the NBA with a 36.1 points per game average, and in the 2017-18 season (30.4 points). Harden is now just the third player in league history to average more than 34 points per game in multiple seasons, joining a pair of Basketball Hall of Famers in Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
Best of all, Harden’s historic numbers contributed greatly to success for his team. Now 30 years old, “The Beard” led his Rockets (44-28) to a top-four seed in the Western Conference for a sixth time in seven years. With Harden as the star, Houston has now made the NBA playoffs in eight straight seasons, which is the league’s longest current streak.
Harden has earned Western Conference All-Star honors in all eight of his seasons with the Rockets, and he’s finished in the top three of the league’s MVP voting on five separate occasions during those eight years (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020). He won the award in 2018.
[lawrence-related id=36254,36193]