Kings' Evans takes home T-Mobile Rookie of Year award

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings is the recipient of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2009-10 T-Mobile NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced Thursday.

Evans received 67 first-place votes (491 points) from a panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Golden State's Stephen Curry finished second with 391 points and Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings finished third with 204 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Selected with the fourth overall pick in the NBA Draft 2009, Evans averaged a rookie-and team-leading 20.1 points, as well as a team-high 5.8 assists (second among rookies) and 5.3 rebounds a game. Evans joined Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists in their rookie seasons. Among rookies, Evans also was first in minutes (37.2 mpg) and second in steals (1.51 spg), while leading in free throws made (348) and attempted (465).

A two-time T-Mobile Western Conference Rookie of the Month selection (October/November and December), Evans scored 20 or more points in 41 games this season, tops among rookies and the most 20-point games by a rookie in the Sacramento era. The 6-foot-6 guard had a seven-game streak (Nov. 7-23) of scoring 20 or more points, tying him with Lionel Simmons for the most consecutive 20-point games by a rookie in the Sacramento era. Evans was named the MVP of the 2010 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Feb. 12, at NBA All-Star in Dallas, recording 26 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals in leading the Rookies to a 140-128 win. On March 10 vs. Toronto, Evans became the first Sacramento-era rookie to record a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Building upon its already strong appeal to the nation's youth and as Official Partner of the NBA, T-Mobile is showcasing the NBA's youngest players -- the Rookies -- through the T-Mobile Rookie Program. Highlights include rookie awards presentations such as the T-Mobile Rookies of the Month and T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, an All-Star competition between NBA rookies and second-year players. During NBA All-Star 2010, T-Mobile and the NBA hosted more than 3,500 students from the Dallas Independent School District to watch the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam from the best seats in the house at American Airlines Center on Friday, February 12.

The Eddie Gottlieb Trophy is named in honor of Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA's founders who coached the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA championship in 1946-47.

T-Mobile USA, Inc.

Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, almost 152 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group - 33.8 million by T-Mobile USA - all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS, the world's most widely used digital wireless standards. T-Mobile USA's innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.

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