NEW YORK — The only player to be unanimously selected to the NBA’s All-Rookie Team is the Rookie of the Year, point guard Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Joining Irving (58 points) and Minnesota Timberwolves rookie point guard Ricky Rubio (49 points) on the All-Rookie First Team are Denver’s Kenneth Faried (46 points), Golden State’s Klay Thompson (43 points), New York’s Iman Shumpert (40 points), San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (40 points) and Detroit’s Brandon Knight (40 points).
(The three-way tie for fifth necessitated a seven-man first team.)
Irving, the league’s top-scoring rookie, was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in December/January, February and March. He finished the season with averages of 18.5 points, 5.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals, becoming one of only six rookies in league history to average at least 18.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting at least .450 from the field (joining Alvan Adams, Grant Hill, Tyreke Evans, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan).
Rubio, the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in December/January, appeared in 41 games during an injury-shortened debut season, averaging 10.6 points, a rookie-best 8.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds. He also led rookies with 2.2 steals.
Faried averaged 10.2 points, a rookie-best 7.7 rebounds and 1.0 block for Denver, garnering Western Conference Player of the Month honors for games played in April. His .586 field goal percentage paced first-year players.
Thompson averaged 12.5 points while shooting a rookie-best .414 from 3-point range, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists, Shumpert averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals. Leonard posted 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 assists. Knight tallied averages of 12.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds.
The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of Houston’s Chandler Parsons (33 points), Sacramento’s Isaiah Thomas (27 points), New Jersey’s MarShon Brooks (18 points), Minnesota’s Derrick Williams (16 points) and Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson (16 points).
The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Two points were awarded for first team votes and one for second team votes.
Here are the final ballot totals:
2011-12 NBA ALL-ROOKIE FIRST TEAM
Player First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total
Kyrie Irving Cleveland 29 – 58
Ricky Rubio Minnesota 21 7 49
Kenneth Faried Denver 19 8 46
Klay Thompson Golden State 16 11 43
Iman Shumpert New York 15 10 40
Kawhi Leonard San Antonio 14 12 40
Brandon Knight Detroit 13 14 40
2011-12 NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM
Player Team First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total
Chandler Parsons Houston 10 13 33
Isaiah Thomas Sacramento 5 17 27
MarShon Brooks New Jersey 3 12 18
Derrick Williams Minnesota 2 12 16
Tristan Thompson Cleveland 2 12 16
Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first place votes in parentheses):
Markieff Morris, Phoenix, 7 (1); Kemba Walker, Charlotte 7; Alec Burks, Utah 2; Norris Cole, Miami 2; Bismack Biyombo, Charlotte 2; Enes Kanter, Utah 1; Greg Stiemsma, Boston 1; Gustavo Ayon, New Orleans 1; Nikola Vucevic, Philadelphia 1.
I count seven, not eight…