We’ve essentially known this for quite some time, but it became official on Wednesday: Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers was named as the 2012-13 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year.
Lillard’s selection was a unanimous one, as he received all 121 first place votes. The last unanimous winner of the award was Blake Griffin back in 2010-11.
Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Hornets finished second with 306 points, while Bradley Beal of the Wizards finished third with 94 points. A first place vote is worth five points, a second place vote is worth three points, and a third place vote is worth one point in the NBA’s voting process.
Lillard was as deserving of this honor as any player has been in recent memory. Among rookies, Lillard ranked first in scoring, assists, and minutes played, with averages of 19 points and 6.5 assists in 38.6 minutes per game this season. He also set the rookie mark for three-point field goals made in a season with 185, surpassing the 166 that Stephen Curry made in his 2009-10 season.
The complete results of the Rookie of the Year voting are listed below. Shout out to John Jenkins of the Atlanta Hawks for that one third place vote.
Rookie, Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Damian Lillard, Portland 121 -- -- 605
Anthony Davis, New Orleans -- 96 18 306
Bradley Beal, Washington -- 14 52 94
Andre Drummond, Detroit -- 5 21 36
Dion Waiters, Cleveland -- 2 15 21
Harrison Barnes, Golden State -- 1 5 8
Chris Copeland, New York -- 2 2 8
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte -- -- 3 3
Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto -- -- 2 2
John Jenkins, Atlanta -- -- 1 1
