Bryant a unanimous selection as All-NBA

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was the lone unanimous selection to the All-NBA squad, the league said on Thursday.

The Lakers guard was joined on the first team by Boston forward Kevin Garnett, Orlando center Dwight Howard, Cleveland forward LeBron James and New Orleans guard Chris Paul.

Bryant earned first team honors for the third straight season and fifth time in his career. He was the league's second-leading scorer at 28.3 points per game while averaging 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds.

The 29-year-old Bryant, who this week won his first MVP Award, led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference at 57-25, a 15-game improvement over last year.

James averaged 30 points a game to win his first scoring title and joined Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average at least 30.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in a season.

Making the All-NBA second team was Phoenix's Steve Nash and Utah's Deron Williams at guard, San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki at forward, and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire at center.

On the third team were San Antonio's Manu Ginobili and Houston's Tracy McGrady at guard, Utah's Carlos Boozer and Boston's Paul Pierce at forward, and Houston's Yao Ming at center.

The All-NBA teams were chosen by a panel of journalists from the United States and Canada.

(Writing by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Trevor Huggins)