779: First Strike, Best Strike

The day before the highly anticipated Western Conference Finals between the Grizzlies and Spurs began, Link successfully set the entire basketball world ablaze under the watchful eyes of countless fans.

When the NBA officially announced its All-NBA teams, Link edged out scoring champion Kevin Durant to earn a spot on the All-NBA First Team!

The five players selected to the All-NBA First Team were Paul, Harden, Link, James, and Noah.

Although the league had already eliminated the center position from All-Star starter voting, dividing players only into frontcourt and backcourt, the All-NBA selection still retained its traditional format of two backcourt players, two frontcourt players, and one center. That rule had remained unchanged since 1989.

As a result, Durant lost out in the fierce competition against Link and James. If they had to be compared directly, Durant was indeed more deserving of a First Team selection than Bulls center Noah. But there was nothing to be done about it—Durant had been placed among the talent-packed forwards.

And in this era where centers were scarce, even Noah's numbers, which were not particularly eye-catching, were enough to earn him an All-NBA First Team spot.

Once the results were announced, both Durant and Link made NBA history in their own ways.

But Link believed Durant was definitely not too pleased with the "achievement" he had earned.

After missing out on the All-NBA First Team, Durant became the tenth player in NBA history, following Anthony last season, to win the scoring title without making the All-NBA First Team.

For Durant, there was truly nothing worth celebrating about that.

Link, however, was different. By making the First Team, he became the third star in NBA history, after the great Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon, to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and make both All-NBA