Kobe, Rondo Make NBA's All Defense Team
by FanHouse Newswire
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kobe Bryant is on the NBA all-defensive first team for the fifth straight year.
Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo made the first team for the first time, earning the second-most points behind the league's defensive player of the year, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.
Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace also made the team for the first time, with the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James making it for the second straight year.
The league's coaches vote on the team.
The second team consists of San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan, guards Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Thabo Sefolosha of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and forwards Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and Anderson Varejao of the Cavaliers.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
by Tom Ziller
The real action during the NBA's awards season is at the bottom of the ballot, where some truly odd votes occur. David Lee, for example, got an ill-deserved third-place vote for Defensive Player of the Year. Someone picked Monta Ellis among his top three in Most Improved Player voting. But most strange so far must be Mark Cuban's Executive of the Year vote.
Exec of the Year is voted on by the decision-makers at the helm of each 30 NBA teams. Each GM (or, in some cases, president of basketball operations -- the titles vary among personnel bosses) gets one vote. Milwaukee's John Hammond won the prize with 12 votes, and Oklahoma City's Sam Presti finished second with nine. Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, was among seven men who earned one vote. Donnie Nelson, the actual GM of the Mavericks, received none. 
ATLANTA (AP) -- Accepting a backup role for the first time in his career, Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford was rewarded for his unselfishness Tuesday by being named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Crawford won the award going away with 580 of a possible 610 points, including 110 out of 122 first-place votes. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks finished second with 220 points and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers (126 points) finished third.
Crawford averaged 18 points a game in 31.1 minutes off the bench in his first season with Atlanta. He shot 44.9 percent from the field to help the Hawks win 53 games and earn the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Hawks are the fourth NBA team for Crawford, who finally made the playoffs for the first time in his 10th season.
"You have to check your ego at the door," the 30-year-old said. "It's all about winning. You do what you've got to do." 
Two days after word leaked of the impending announcement, Kings guard Tyreke Evans was officially named the 2009-10 NBA T-Mobile Rookie of the Year on Thursday.
Evans beat out fellow guards Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings in balloting. The Kings' rookie racked up 67 of 123 first-place votes, and appeared among the top three on every single ballot. Curry, the Warrior, finished second, earning 43 first-place votes and appearing on all but four ballots.
Jennings, whose Bucks lead Atlanta 3-2 in the first round of the Eastern Confernce playoffs, finished third. He earned 12 first-place votes, and made 112 of 123 ballots. Some combination of Evans, Curry and Jennings appeared on all but 15 ballots. The single first-place vote not claimed by that troika was given to Hornets guard Darren Collison.
Evans is the first Rookie of the Year for the Kings since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985. Phil Ford won the 1978-79 R.O.Y. while playing for the Kansas City Kings. 
The NBA announced today Scott Brooks, second-year coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, has won the 2009-10 Coach of the Year award. Brooks finished substantially ahead of second-place finisher Scott Skiles of the Bucks and third-place Nate McMillan of Portland. Some 14 coaches received at least one vote on the three-slot ballot.
Brooks, Skiles and McMillan also finished 1-2-3 in FanHouse's Coach of the Year balloting.
The Thunder won 50 games this season after winning only 23 last season. Brooks took over in November 2008 after then-coach P.J. Carlesimo began the season losing 12 of 13 games. One of Brooks' first moves was to move Kevin Durant from shooting guard to small forward. He also gave then-rookie point guard Russell Westbrook an opportunity to start a few days into his tenure.