Durant has now been on the All-NBA First Team for the past three seasons. Durant led the league averaging 28.0 points per game this season to go with 8.0 rebounds. He also had a career-high .610 true shooting percentage this year as well as tying his career-high with a 26.2 PER.

Durant received 117 First Team votes, just one less than LeBron who had more than anyone. There were a possible 120 votes so a few people who voted don’t watch basketball and didn’t think LeBron or Durant deserved to be on the First Team.

Russell Westbrook made the Second Team with Tony Parker, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum.

Westbrook makes the Second Team for the second straight season. Westbrook would have been available for the “Rose Rule” salary bump because he made an All-NBA team but he waived it in his extension.

Westbrook averaged a career-high 23.6 points per game this season but his assists per game dropped to 5.5 from 8.2 a season ago. He did shoot a career-high .457 percent from the field this year.

Westbrook finished the voting with just one more point than Wade who made the Third Team. Westbrook also had five First Team votes while wade had just one.

The All-NBA Third Team consists of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler.

Here is how the voting went:

LeBron James led all players in votes as the NBA announced the 2011-12 All-Defensive Teams today.

LeBron made the First Team with 53 vote points. Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard, Tony Allen and Chris Paul joined LeBron on the First Team.

LeBron led the Heat in steals (1.9) and defensive rebounds (6.4) this season.

The Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler was not named to the First Team. He instead made the Second Team along with Kevin Garnett, Luol Deng, Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant.

Howard finished with 41 voting points and received three more First Team votes than Chandler.

Irving is expected to be named the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year early this week. Irving played in 51 games this season and averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game. He only played 30.5 minutes per game and was very efficient shooting .469 from the field and .399 from three.

It was a solid rookie class this season but Irving had little competition for this award.

Ricky Rubio was the talk of the league at the beginning of the season but he leveled out after a great start and then went down with a season-ending injury.

Kenneth Faried and Isaiah Thomas came on strong late but their resumes weren’t as impressive as Irving’s.

Irving will become the first Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the award since LeBron James.

The Cavaliers finished the season with a 21-45 record, third worst in the Eastern Conference. With a deep draft coming up the Cavaliers will have a chance to pair Irving up with another lottery pick.

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LeBron received 85 of a possible 131 first place votes beating out Kevin Durant easily who finished second with 24 first place votes. Chris Paul finished third in the voting and Kobe Bryant fourth.

LeBron averaged 27.1 points, 6.2 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game in his second season in Miami. He also shot career high marks from the field (.531) and three (.362). LeBron also led the NBA in PER with a 30.80 rating. Paul was second in PER with a 27.09 rating.

Durant had a great season too but it was not enough to top LeBron at his best. Durant averaged 28.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting .496 from the field and .387 from three.

It felt like LeBron won the award sort of by default and that’s not an insult. He probably could have won it last season too and we’d be talking about four straight MVP’s for him.

LeBron is now the first player since Michael Jordan to win three MVP’s. LeBron joins Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jordan as the only players to win the award three or more times.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden was named the NBA’s best sixth man yesterday to the surprise of no one. Harden was winning this award from the first game of the season this year and had little competition for it all season.

Harden averaged basically a 17-4-4 shooting 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from three. He did everything for Oklahoma City’s second unit and showed in Game 4 that he can be relied on to close out games for them as well.

Is Harden one of the best sixth men ever? Is he the best one ever?

The award wasn’t given out until the 1982-83 season. Bobby Jones of Philadelphia won it that year then Kevin McHale won it the next two. The Sixth Man of the Year award winner was on the NBA championship team in three of the first four seasons.

Sixth men have always been a crucial piece to championship teams. And it makes sense too. Being a sixth man often means sacrificing being a starter and hearing your name called out every night before the game. Winning a championship is about sacrificing for the team and for the greater good.

Before we determine if Harden is the best sixth man ever we need to figure out what are the best qualities for a sixth man to have.

Scoring off the bench is probably the most important. It is so valuable to have someone who can come in off the bench and score at a high level. And when you get to do this against a second unit it can sometimes become a deadly weapon like in the case of Harden.

Harden is really one of the premiere one-on-one scorers in the league and when he gets to play the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters against bench units he is really able to take advantage of this strength.

Like I mentioned before being a player who is willing to sacrifice is also an important ingredient in a sixth man. Harden is easily able to do this because he plays with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. So it makes a ton of sense for him to play a lot of minutes without either of them so that the Thunder can maximize their three best players’ potential.

A great sixth man must also be able to close out games. We saw Jason Terry as a perfect example of this last year for Dallas and Harden is now showing signs of becoming that guy for Oklahoma City. Manu Ginobili was also the offensive closer in a lot of cases during his championship days for San Antonio.

What really makes Harden so special is that he not only can carry a scoring load for the second unit but also essentially is the point guard for the Thunder’s bench squad. When Eric Maynor was lost for the year with an injury earlier this season, Harden’s role increased. He had to create everything for himself and others on the bench.

I think this is where Harden separates himself from past Sixth Man of the Year winners is his ability to thrive in two crucial bench roles. He can do this because he has superstar talent and an incredible understanding of how to play the game and what’s important.

Harden is no right up there with ’08 Ginobili who played a similar role that Harden did this year and with slightly better numbers.

Other than Ginobili you have to go back to the 1980’s to find a better sixth man than Harden. In 1985, Kevin McHale averaged a 20-9 for the Celtics and he also shot .570 percent from the field. The year before McHale averaged 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and they won the title.

Harden’s not on that level yet and may never be at least as a sixth man. Harden has a chance in the rest of these playoffs to get there though. If he becomes the closer for the Thunder handling the ball down the stretch of games then this Thunder team really has a chance to go all the way, cementing Harden as possibly the best bench player of all-time.

Harden was the easy choice for the award from the day the regular season started. He averaged 16.8 points, 3.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game during the regular season.

Harden had a breakout game in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round proving just how valuable of a player he is, scoring 15 points in the final quarter to help Oklahoma City erase a 13-point deficit.

Lou Williams of Philadelphia finished second in the voting and received three first place votes. Don’t let those three guys watch basketball anymore.

Jason Terry finished third in the voting and Taj Gibson actually received one first place vote. Again, no more basketball watching for you sir.

Harden averaged 16.8 points, 3.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game this season. He also shot .491 percent from the field, .390 from three and .846 from the line.

He led all bench players in scoring and really had the potential to make the All-Star team.

Harden has already had a huge playoff moment cementing his status as the league’s best bench player when he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 against Dallas to help the Thunder come back from a 13-point deficit and sweep the defending champs.

Harden didn’t have much competition for the award either especially with San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili being injured for much of the year. Jason Terry of Dallas and Lou Williams of Philadelphia were probably the next closest for the award.