This was, of course, not a typical NBA season. The lockout left us with a compressed schedule, strange and lengthy road trips, and the dreaded back-to-back-to-backs. The regular season may have been one most teams would like to forget, but with the end of the year upon us, it's time to award the exceptional performances over these bizarre four months.
Most Valuable Player
This was a good race for much of the year, with LeBron James’ individual brilliance pitted against Kevin Durant’s great numbers in combination with his team’s best-in-the-league record. But as the Thunder ran out of steam down the stretch of the season, finishing 6-6 in their last 12 games and 15-10 in their last 25, he could no longer claim team superiority, and Durant’s candidacy became more of a purely statistical battle with James.
Though Durant’s numbers are outstanding (a league-best 27.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 49.7 percent shooting), they don’t quite stack up with what James has done (27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 53.1 percent shooting). And while Durant’s length makes him a tough defender, James is one of the league’s top all-around defensive players.
Sporting News ballot
1. LeBron James, Heat
2. Kevin Durant, Thunder
3. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
4. Chris Paul, Clippers
5. Tony Parker, Spurs
Coach of the Year
There are always good candidates for this award, and it tends to go to a new-ish coach whose team exceeds expectations—of the last eight coaches of the year, five have been in their first full seasons with their teams. This points to Indiana’s Frank Vogel, but this is a year in which that trend should be bucked.
A strong case can be made for Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau to win back-to-back COYs, after he handled a rash of injuries that allowed him to tip off with his usual starting five just 14 times. There’s also Boston’s Doc Rivers, whose roster was also battered by injuries and had to use 18 different starting lineups.
But the most impressive job this year came from 16th-year Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who plugged in parts like Danny Green, Gary Neal, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw to help overcome the aging of Tim Duncan and an injury to Manu Ginobili, keeping the Spurs at the top of the West.
Sporting News ballot
1. Gregg Popovich, Spurs
2. Doc Rivers, Celtics
3. Tom Thibodeau, Bulls
Rookie of the Year
Had Ricky Rubio remained healthy and kept the Timberwolves on the playoff path, he would have given Kyrie Irving, the top pick in last year’s NBA Draft, a run for this award. But as it stands, Irving (18.8 points, 5.5 assists, 46.8 percent shooting) was clearly the best player first-year player, and looks to be a piece the Cavs can use as a cornerstone going forward. Kenneth Faried, chosen by Denver with the 22nd pick, has proven to be the surprise of the draft, and Leonard’s performance, particularly at the defensive end, has helped Spurs fans forget the George Hill trade.
Sporting News ballot
1. Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers.
2. Kenneth Faried, Nuggets.
3. Kawhi Leonard, Spurs.
Most Improved
This is one of the sillier honors in sports, because too often it goes to a player who does not necessarily improve, but merely gets more playing time. Or it goes to a player who just makes a natural progression from rookie to sophomore, or the expected third-year bump. The fact that Jeremy Lin, who played just 284 minutes last year and only 35 games this year, could be considered a candidate for this award points out how futile it is.
For me, the award should go to a player who does something to significantly improve his game, and no one in the league made a bigger leap from rotation player to high-quality starter than Milwaukee’s Ersan Ilyasova, who averaged 13.0 points and 8.8 rebounds. He also shot 45.5 percent on 3-pointers, after a 33.5 percentage in his first three seasons.
Credit, too, goes to Brandan Wright, who looked like he would hobble out of the league before reinventing himself as part of Dallas’ center rotation. Andrew Bynum might have been a shoo-in if his improvement on the court had not been tempered by continued maturity issues.
Sporting News ballot
1. Ersan Ilyasova, Bucks.
2. Brandan Wright, Mavericks.
3. Andrew Bynum, Lakers.
Defensive Player of the Year
As tumultuous as the season has been for the Knicks, and as many different identities as they have had over the year, they have had one constant—Tyson Chandler in the middle. His impact on the Knicks defense has been obvious, as New York has gone from 27th to 13th in points allowed, from 26th to 10th in opponents’ field goal percentage, from 22nd to fifth in defensive rating (a measure of points allowed per 100 possessions) and from 26th to 11th in defensive rebounding percentage.
Sporting News ballot
1. Tyson Chandler, Knicks.
2. Kevin Garnett, Celtics.
3. LeBron James, Heat.
Sixth Man of the Year
James Harden would not only be a starter on most teams, he would be the leading scorer on many. But, playing with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, his talents are best employed off the bench, where he has averaged 16.8 points and dramatically improved his efficiency—he is shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 39.0 percent on 3-pointers, up from 42.1 percent and 36.0 percent, respectively, over his first two seasons. Lou Williams pulled off the rare feat of leading his team in scoring while coming off the bench, and Mo Williams provided a consistent scoring punch for the Clippers, but this should be a near unanimous vote for Harden.
Sporting News ballot
1. James Harden, Thunder.
2. Lou Williams, Sixers.
3. Mo Williams, Clippers.
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