Kobe Bryant Receives Another Honor

vladeaaron LA Times:After a one-year absence, Kobe Bryant returned to the NBA all-defensive team.

The Laker All-Star was one of six players selected to the first team in a vote of the league’s 30 head coaches, the NBA announced Thursday. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.

Bryant received the same number of votes as New Jersey guard Jason Kidd, so both made the first team.

The four other first-team players are Detroit center Ben Wallace, San Antonio forward-guard Bruce Bowen, Sacramento forward Ron Artest and Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko.

Bowen was the leading vote-getter, with 55 points — one more than Wallace — in making the team for the sixth consecutive season.

Wallace was selected to the first team for the fifth consecutive season. He recently was chosen as the league’s top defensive player for the fourth time in five years.

Bryant struggled defensively last season and was left off the team for the first time since 1999.

He was ninth in the league in steals this season, with 1.8 a game.

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