The NBA announced today that Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul has been selected to the 2012-13 All-NBA First Team and Clippers forward Blake Griffin was named a member of the 2012-13 All-NBA Second Team. It is the third time in Paul’s career he has been selected to the First Team and his fifth All-NBA honor. Paul received 537 overall points, the third most among all players and 97 first place votes. This is the second straight season Griffin has been a member of the Second Team, and he becomes one of just four players since 1995-96 to make an All-NBA First or Second Team twice in their first three seasons.
Paul and Griffin helped lead the Clippers to the most successful regular season in franchise history, winning the franchise’s first Pacific Division title and finishing with a 56-26 (.683) record.
For Paul, the honor is a cap on another stellar season that saw him win MVP of the 2013 All-Star Game and be named a member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second straight season. Paul appeared in 70 games (all starts) and averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.41 steals in 33.4 minutes. He led the league in steals per game and assists-to-turnover ratio while finishing second in the NBA in assists per game while leading the Clippers in assists, steals and free throws made. Paul earned the NBA Western Conference Player of the Month award for December after helping the Clippers to a 16-0 month and became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career points and 5,000 career assists before his 28th birthday.
Griffin, a three-time NBA All-Star, appeared in 80 games (all starts) and averaged a team-high 18.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and shot 53.8 percent from the field in 32.5 minutes per game. He was the only player in the league this season to average 18.0+ points, 8.3+ rebounds, 3.5+ assists and 1.0+ steals, and just the fourth player to do so since 2006-07. Griffin led the Clippers with 28 double-doubles and was the club’s leading scorer a team-high 32 times and leading rebounder 37 times. He was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 3 and his 11-game streak of at least 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists was the longest in the NBA this season.
The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Below are the results of the voting for the 2012-13 All-NBA Teams, with First Team votes in parentheses. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.
2012-13 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
2012-13 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
2012-13 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM