Voting closed last week and the 2008 All-World Team was determined by our community in the 3rd Annual IBN Awards.   Highlighting the first team is Kobe Bryant, last season’s NBA MVP and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist.

Bryant received the most points with 60, and was followed closely by Dwight Howard’s 57 total point.  The two were joined by Chris Paul (55) whom broke out with a spectacular season with the Hornets, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavs (52), and Kobe’s running mate in Los Angeles and Spanish National Team star Pau Gasol (43).

2008 All-World First Team:
G: Kobe Bryant, USA (60)
G: Chris Paul, USA (55)
C: Dwight Howard, USA (57)
F: LeBron James, USA (52)
F: Pau Gasol, ESP (43)

Leading the second team, and the only American on that team, is 2008 NBA Champion Kevin Garnett.   Garnett is the only 2007-08 All-NBA First Team member not on the All-World first team, but boasts the highest point total with 31 points.  He is joined by 7-6 center from China Yao Ming (30), bronze medal winning Manu Ginobili (21) of Argentina, German NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki (20), and Spain‘s steady point guard Jose Calderon (15).

All-World Second Team:
G: Manu Ginóbili, ARG (21)
G: José Calderón, ESP (15)
C: Yao Ming, CHN (30)
F: Kevin Garnett, USA (31)
F: Dirk Nowitzki, GER (20)

All-World Third Team:
G: Rudy Fernandez, ESP (13)
G: Tony Parker, FRA (tie, 9)
G: Dwyane Wade, USA (tie, 9)
C: Hamed Hadaddi, IRA (22)
F: Ramūnas Šiškauskas, LIT (12)
F: Paul Pierce, USA (20)

The third team included six players after our set of *tiebreakers could not determine a winner between Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade for the final guard spot.

Each player received 9 points for the final spot on our All-World Team.  Parker and Wade were joined by Rudy Fernandez, whom scored a team-high 22 points in the Gold Medal game for Spain.  NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce and Euroleague Finals MVP Ramūnas Šiškauskas filled the wing spots, while Hamed Hadaddi, the Iranian center that led the Olympics in rebounds and blocks, was voted as our 2008 third-team All-World center.

Bryant, Howard, LeBron James, and Chris Paul all earned gold-medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as being named to the 2007-08 All-NBA First Team. Pau Gasol made his way onto the team by leading team Spain in scoring and rebounds and capturing the Silver Medal. The Spaniard was also traded from Memphis and helped the Los Angeles Lakers to the best record in the NBA.

Though Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce each received 20 points, Nowitzki was placed on the All-World Second Team as he won the tiebreaker over Pierce because Dirk made more appearances on more of our member’s All-World Teams (7-5).

*In the case that their scores are tied, both players are mentioned equally by members, the next tiebreaker is where the players ranked in their positions – the lower the total rank will win the spot.   In the case where all those measures are tied, the two players will share the spot, as was the case with the All-World third Team guard position with both Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade tied with 9 total points.

Honorable Mention: Nikola Pekovic (13), Tim Duncan (10), Deron Williams (8), Luis Scola (6), Hidayet Turkoglu (5), Trajan Langdon (4), Patrick Mills (4), Ray Allen (3), Chris Bosh (2), Andrei Kirilenko (2), Ksystof Lavrinovic (2), Steve Nash (2), Dimitris Diamantidis (1), Derrick Rose (1), Brandon Roy (1), Nikola Vujcic (1)

Links and Resources: VOTE: The 2008 All-World Team (Interbasket)