LeBron James of the Miami Heat was voted to the All-NBA First Team on Wednesday for the fifth consecutive season. (Issac Baldizon/Getty Images)

The NBA announced its All-NBA First Team on Thursday, highlighted by the Heat’s LeBron James and the Thunder’s Kevin Durant.  Chris Paul of the Clippers, the Lakers Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard of the Magic rounded out the team.

Derrick Rose, last seasons MVP, and Deron Williams, were two notable omissions from the three teams selected by the NBA.  Despite having one of the best records all season, none of the Chicago Bulls were selected to any of the teams. Bryant joins the All-NBA first team for the seventh consecutive season and 10th time overall. James joins the team for the fifth consecutive season, sixth overall.

The All-NBA Second Team is comprised of the Wolves Kevin Love, Blake Griffin of the Clippers, Andrew Bynum of the Lakers, Tony Parker of the Spurs and Russell Westbrook of the Thunder.

Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler of the Knicks were named to the All-NBA Third Team, along with the Celtics Rajon Rondo, the Mavs Dirk Nowitzki and the Heat’s Dwayne Wade.

The following is the complete NBA.com list of other players who received votes  but who were not selected to the top three teams:

LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland, 55; Marc Gasol, Memphis, 52; Derrick Rose, Chicago, 44; Josh Smith, Atlanta, 33; Paul Pierce, Boston, 31; Al Jefferson, Utah, 30; Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers, 27; Steve Nash, Phoenix, 24; Kevin Garnett, Boston, 22; Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 18; Joe Johnson, Atlanta, 16; Deron Williams, New Jersey, 14; Rudy Gay, Memphis, 10; James Harden, Oklahoma City, 8; Luol Deng, Chicago, 5; Roy Hibbert, Indiana, 5; Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 3; Danny Granger, Indiana, 3; Joakim Noah, Chicago, 3; Monta Ellis, Milwaukee, 2; Chris Bosh, Miami, 2; Luis Scola, Houston, 2; Marcin Gortat, Phoenix, 2; Paul Millsap, Utah, 2; Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City, 2; David Lee, Golden State, 1; and DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento, 1.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant told The Oklahoman that he thinks LeBron James of the Miami Heat deserves the league’s Most Valuable Player award this season.

“He deserves all the love (for MVP),” Durant said. “He’s playing phenomenal basketball. I’m just trying to get better every single game and trying to help my team as much as I can. I’m just blessed to be in that conversation.”

Durant’s comments came after a double overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in which the Thunder had blown an 18 point lead. Durant had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but missed a last second three point attempt.

The fifth year star is averaging 27.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, which has helped lead Oklahoma City to the second best record in the Western Conference (46-18). He currently is tied as the league leader in scoring with Kobe Bryant.

James, who is averaging 27.2 points per contest, currently ranks third in scoring. He is also averaging 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.

Oklahoma Thunder superstar Kevin Durant told the Oklahoman that his team is better when point guard Russell Westbrook shoots the ball.

“We’re worse when I take more shots (than Westbrook),” Durant told the paper in response to ESPN analyst Skip Bayless criticizing Westbrook’s shoot first mentality. “Like I said, that guy (Bayless) doesn’t know a thing. I don’t think he watches us. I think he just looks at the stats. And traditionally, a point guard is not supposed to take more shots than everybody else on the team. But we’re better when he does do that and he’s aggressive. And I’m better when I’m out there facilitating, rebounding, defending and being more efficient on my shots with less shots.”

Looking at the NBA’s point per possession, the Thunder have one of the most effective and efficient offenses in the league. The Oklahoman also points out that the team is 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than Durant.

Durant is currently averaging 27.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds, where as Westbrook is averaging  24.4 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.4 rebounds.

Reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose said Friday he believes Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is the front-runner for this year’s award, according to ESPN.com.

“KD is playing great,” Rose said. “I’m hearing about what he’s doing, hearing about how he’s playing. The numbers speak for itself, how he’s working out this summer, and he’s playing great basketball.”

This season, Durant is averaging 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Thunder, who lead the Western Conference. According to ESPN, the race is between Durant and LeBron James, who is averaging 26.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant is splitting from agent Aaron Goodwin, according to the Associated Press.

Prior to Friday’s game with the Golden State Warriors, Durant told the AP that he appreciated all that Goodwin has done for him, “but it was time for me to move on.”

Durant has not settled on a new agent, and he said his brother would handle those duties presently.

The NBA released a statement Monday regarding a goaltending call in the Portland Trail Blazers game with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The play in question occurred late in regulation, when LaMarcus Aldridge appeared to block a Kevin Durant layup attempt. A goaltend was called, which tied the game with six seconds left. The Thunder eventually won in overtime.

“With the benefit of slow motion replay following the game, it has been determined that Aldridge made contact with the ball just before the ball hit the backboard. Therefore, this should have been ruled a good block and goaltending was the incorrect call,” the NBA said, in a statement.

Referees cannot use instant replay to review a possible goaltending violation, but Blazers coach Nate McMillan thought the block was good at first glance.

“I thought it was a good block. That game should have been over,” McMillan said after the game, according to the Associated Press.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant was not impressed with Blake Griffin’s dunk over teammate Kendrick Perkins, according to ESPN.

“I wasn’t surprised because Blake is a poster child,” Durant said. “He dunks the ball a lot and makes spectacular plays. If it wasn’t against us, maybe I’d say it was a good play, but it was against us, so it was a bad play. I have nothing against Blake, don’t get me wrong. But it was against us, so I’ve got to stick up for my teammate.”

Perkins, the victim of Griffin’s highflying dunk, expressed his opinion saying to reporters, “It was a layup, I think. He threw the ball in and got fouled and made his free throw. … I really wasn’t impressed.”

Griffin had 22 points in the 112-100 victory Monday night over the Thunder in L.A.  The win snapped the Thunder’s four-game winning streak.

The Thunder hold the division lead in the Northwest with a 16-4 record while the Clippers are leading the Pacific Division at 12-6.  The two meet again on March 21 at Oklahoma City.

The debate has raged this season over the “alpha dog” issue in Oklahoma City. Who’s the best player on the West-leading Thunder — is it Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook?

Durant has an answer to that question… or rather, a non-answer.

“Hey, my man, I’ve got a question for you,” Durant told Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area. “Why does everyone want to talk about who the best player is on our team, whether it’s me or Russell? Why does everyone worry about that?”

Controversy surrounding the Thunder’s two leaders has flared up since a Dec. 28 incident when the two had to be separated during an intense in-game shouting match. Durant, however, has no interest in the debate.

“I mean, we’re on the same team, Russell and me, so what does it matter? Who cares whether he’s better than me or I’m better than him?”

Regardless of who’s better, the two young stars have led the Thunder to the best record in the NBA at 15-3. Durant has done his part with 25.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game; Westbrook has chipped in 20.4, 4.7 and 5.6.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant currently lead all NBA players in All-Star voting, according to a statement released by the NBA today.

Howard reportedly leads all Eastern Conference players with 754,737 votes while Bryant, who leads the Western Conference, is a distant second overall with 690,613. The Miami Heat’s LeBron James, who boasts 640,789 votes, ranks second in the Eastern Conference while Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant ranks second in the Western Conference with 633,538.

According to the returns released by the league today, if voting ended now the Eastern Conference’s starters would be Howard, James, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade. The Western Conference’s lineup would be Bryant, Durant, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum and Chris Paul.

Voting for the All-Star game will conclude Jan. 31, and the starters will be announced Feb. 2 on TNT.

Russell Westbrook was nowhere to be seen after his awful effort against the Grizzlies last night. After shooting 0-for-13 and having to be separated from Kevin Durant during a heated shouting match, Westbrook bolted from the FedEx Forum without speaking to the media.

Then tonight, he finally spoke about his little dustup with his superstar teammate.

“It’s a part of the game,” Westbrook told ESPN Dallas prior to tonight’s game against the Mavericks. “It never was meant to spill over, so it wasn’t like I did it on purpose to spill over. I was just telling [Thabo Sefolosha] to shoot the ball when he was open. It wasn’t like I was telling him something wrong to do. I’m telling my guy to shoot the ball, and then the rest of what was happening had nothing to do with that play. You never get the full story unless you were there to see exactly what happened.”

Durant and coach Scott Brooks both downplayed the incident, saying the team was frustrated about letting the Grizzlies whittle their 11-point lead down to three. Both maintained that the argument was a minor issue that should be dropped.

“It was nothing that anybody should be blowing out of proportion,” Durant said. “It happens every single day.”