Chris  Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets  will  receive  the  Eddie  Gottlieb Trophy as the 2005-06 T-Mobile Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Paul received 124 out of a possible 125 first-place votes (623 points) from a  panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada,  the  largest  percent  of  votes since David Robinson received 100 percent  of  first-place votes in 1989-90. 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  received. Toronto?s Charlie Villanueva finished second with 248 points and Milwaukee?s Andrew Bogut finished third with 98 points.

Paul,  the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, averaged rookie highs of  16.1  points,  7.8 assists, 2.24 steals and posted 21 double-doubles to lead  the  Hornets  to  a  20-win improvement over last season, the biggest turnaround  in  the NBA this season. He led the league in total steals with 175, becoming only the second rookie in NBA history to accomplish that feat (Brevin  Knight,  1997-98), ranked third in steals per game, fifth in total assists (611) and seventh in assists per game.

Paul  received  the  T-Mobile  Western Conference Rookie of the Month award every  month  of  the  2005-06  season, joining David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Carmelo  Anthony  and LeBron James as the only players in league history to win  the award every month.