CLEVELAND, OH – The NBA announced on Thursday that Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James has been named to the 2016-17 All-NBA First Team. James led all Eastern Conference players with 498 points, receiving 99 First Team votes. This marks James’ 13th time being selected to an All-NBA team, including his 11th First Team honor (2006, 2008-2017) and 10th straight. He is tied with Kobe Bryant (11) and Karl Malone (11) for the most First Team selections in NBA history. The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.
This past season, James appeared in 74 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers and averaged 26.4 points (8th in NBA) on .548 shooting from the field (10th in NBA), a .363 mark from beyond the arc, a career-high 8.6 rebounds (17th in NBA), a career-high 8.7 assists (6th in NBA) and 1.23 steals in 37.8 minutes. He became the first player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists while shooting .540 or better from the field in a single season and extended his league record for most consecutive seasons with 25.0 points or more to 13. The 6-8 forward also registered career highs in double-doubles (42, 11th in NBA) and triple-doubles (13, 3rd in NBA) and was an NBA All-Star starter for the 13th straight season, tying Bob Cousy for the most consecutive All-Star starts in NBA history.
Additionally, James was named the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice (October/November & February) and Player of the Week four times (weeks ending Oct. 30, Nov. 6, Dec. 11 & Feb. 12) this past season. The four-time MVP scored in double figures in all 74 games in 2016-17, increasing his consecutive double-digit scoring streak to 791 (second-longest streak in NBA history). He also had 61 games of at least 20 points, 23 games of at least 30 points and two games of 40 points or more. After concluding his 14th NBA season with 28,787 career points, James climbed all the way up to No. 7 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing Shaquille O’Neal (28,596), Moses Malone (27,409), Elvin Hayes (27,313) and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) this season. He also moved into 12th place in career assists (7,461) and 13th in field goals made (10,423).
During the regular season, the defending NBA Champion Cavaliers had the second-best record in the East (51-31) and are currently in the midst of their third straight conference finals appearance. Cleveland has opened the 2017 Playoffs with an 9-0 record and is the first team in league history to start the postseason 9-0 in back-to-back years (started 10-0 in last year’s playoffs). Overall, the Cavaliers have won a franchise-playoff record 12 consecutive games dating back to Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which is just one shy of tying the league’s longest playoff winning streak of 13 straight wins by the Los Angeles Lakers (1988-1989).