For my entire basketball watching life, almost all of the yearly NBA awards are contested. It’s so rare for every single person to agree that this player is more valuable than this other player. Part of that debate, I believe, is due to the fact that there are no objective stats or figures that we could use to determine a winner. Most awards are given because of a narrative being driven or the good ol’ eye test. Sure, counting stats have a part in it too, but I think you would be hard pressed to find one award given to any player in the last twenty years based solely off of their stats.
Case and point, do you remember a couple of years ago when Jaren Jackson Jr. won the Defensive Player of the Year award? He certainly had the stats to back his case, but so did Brook Lopez and Evan Mobley. JJJ had 3 blocks per game along with 1 steal per game, and was the anchor for the Grizzlies defense, but the debate was highly contested due to him only playing in 63 games. Brook Lopez led the league in total blocks, and Evan Mobley lead the league in defensive win shares. Not to mention that guys like Giannis, Draymond Green, and Jrue Holiday all had spectacular defensive seasons as well. Of course the Memphis media backed their guy to win DPOY, but that local coverage soon seeped into the national discussion, and before we knew it, JJJ was the clear winner.
I know that I cannot change how the media has done things for the duration of giving awards out, but I’d like to offer an alternative. I have a set of awards in mind that have clear definitions of what is and what is not a winner of said award, in an effort to have clear winners and losers of that award. There will not be a direct one-to-one comparison to the NBA awards. With all due respect, I couldn’t tell you who the Executive of the Year in 2015 was, and the Clutch Player of the Year sounds like an award they give out to the coach’s son at the end of the church league season, so both of those will be omitted. So without further ado, let’s get after it.
The Coach Carter Award
Named of course after one of the greatest basketball movies of all time, The Coach Carter Award does not simply belong to the team with the best record, or someone who overachieved in the regular season. This award belongs to someone who, much like Coach Carter, changed the system and philosophy of the team and it’s players, and went on to achieve success when others doubted them. For me, there is only one person who is head and shoulders above the rest of the field, and that is Mark Daigneault.
I don’t think anyone had crazy high expectations for the Oklahoma City Thunder when he took over the reigns. There were obviously some growing pains with his first two years, winning a combined 46 games. Last year was slightly better with an almost .500 record at 40–42, but then they took the world by storm this year. They had the same system and the same players (with the exception of Chet Holmgren who missed all of last year) and went out and were the best team in the Western Conference.
Despite being a small market and not being able to lure a superstar caliber player to team up with SGA, the Thunder have put their heads down and bullied the rest of the league, and it is all thanks to the system that Mark Daigneault implemented, his belief in his players, and always striving to be better than the day before.
Also in contention: Mike Brown, Sacramento Kings
The Up NXT Award
Full disclosure, the original title of this award was going to be “The Supernova Award” due to how impressive a supernova truly is. It’s the biggest explosion that we have ever seen in a star, but unfortunately it is the last thing that the star ever does. SO, we go with “Up NXT Award” because this player is someone who is ready to take the league by storm, and they’ve given us a glimpse into what they could be in the future.
A lot of this award is based on the opportunity that is presented for the player. I do believe, however, it is impossible for a player who is a highly touted prospect coming into the draft, for example a lottery pick, to become “most improved.” A second overall pick? We EXPECT you to be a star. Someone who got drafted in the second round and had to spend some time in the G-League, AND THEN makes a HUGE impact in the NBA? THAT’s what it means to be Up NXT.
Miles McBride, for me, is the clear-cut winner this year. He was presented a huge opportunity to be Jalen Brunson’s backup after the Knicks traded Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors, but he was still battling with Quentin Grimes for that backup PG spot. THEN, the Knicks traded Grimes to the Pistons on trade deadline day. That was the day the Knicks second unit changed for the better.
Prior to the trade deadline, McBride only averaged 3.7 points and 1 assist per game, on 37/33/74 shooting splits. After the trade deadline? 11.6 PPG, 2.5 APG, 2.2 RPG, and 1 SPG, with 43/40/90 shooting splits. Not bad for the 36th overall pick in the 2021 draft, huh?
*There are some of you who may want to interject and say “Coby White/Tyrese Maxey should have won the award!” While I think that both should be in the conversation for Most Improved (I voted for Coby White to win that award,) I do not believe that either of them are “Up NXT.” That term, to me, means that they were an unknown commodity prior to the start of the season, but are now known. White and Maxey have been on the stage since early last season. They did take huge leaps this year, but because of their flashes last year, they are not in contention for this award.
Also in contention: Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
The New Kid on the Block Award
My biggest complaint with the Rookie of the Year award, this year in particular, is that I don’t think enough people understand what the award means. The best rookie does not always equal the best player. This year is no different. I may get some slack for this, but The New Kid of the Block Award is solely meant for the best rookie. Not who is going to be the best player in the future. For that reason, the winner this year is Chet Holmgren.
Before you start telling me about how good Wemby is, I would like to point out a couple things to you.
I believe in my heart of hearts that Wemby is going to be one of the best players that the league has EVER seen, but he just hasn’t had a better season that Chet. Has he had better highlights? Yes. Has Chet had a better team around him? Absolutely. Did Victor have the better season though? No.
If Wemby didn’t exist, we would all be drooling over Chet the same way we do Wemby.
Chet has “worse” counting stats than Wemby, but you need to have context to understand that it isn’t a bad thing. Wemby has a better per game average in the five major counting stats: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, however, here are the other comparisons that got me to this decision.
FG%: Chet 53%, Vic 46.5%
3P%: Chet 37%, Vic 32.5%
eFG%: Chet 59.8%, Vic 51.9%
True Shooting: Chet 63.2%, Vic 56.5%
Games Played: Chet 82, Vic 71
And equally as important, Chet helped the Thunder improve from 40–42 to being the #1 seed in the West, and Chet has 165 less points on the year ON 233 LESS SHOTS THAN VIC. Efficiency matters, kids. Again, Vic will probably go on to be one of the league’s best, but for this year, Chet has been the best rookie.
Also in contention: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
The Super 6 Award
Much like the MVP award, I view this award through the lens of “what would this team be without this player?” Two people in particular are in contention here, and this is probably the toughest decision for me among all the awards, but to almost quote the man himself “nobody is better at coming off the bench” than Russell Westbrook.
The other person who deserves some love is Malik Monk. An absolute flamethrower off the bench, and without his production this year, I don’t think that the Kings would have been able to light the beam as many times as they did.
The reason I believe that Russell Westbrook deserves this award? This Clippers season would not be going the way it is without him. It all started when James Harden got traded to the Clippers. Who is going to sacrifice? There were some growing pains, but Russ is the one that said that he would come off the bench if that meant that this team would succeed.
Egos are a tricky thing, especially in sports. For a former MVP, someone who AVERAGED a triple double for three straight seasons, to willingly come off the bench and play his role? Remarkable. It only helps his case that he’s had a great season to boot. Malik certainly is a better scorer, but Russ provides so much more for the Clippers than Malik does for the Kings. Russ is by far a better defender and rebounder, and despite shooting an ABYSMAL 28% from 3, he’s got a better FG%.
Most importantly to me, I believe that the Kings would still be where they are in the standings without Malik, because the majority of their wins have come off the back for Sabonis and Fox, but I do not believe the same for Russ and the Clippers. Without Russell coming off the bench, the Clippers are not the 4th seed in the west, the Clippers do not go on the multiple runs they did this season, and they do not have momentum and confidence going into the playoffs.
Also in contention: Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings
The Lockdown Award
Who doesn’t love defense, right? The NBA voter committee apparently. A lot of the time, this award is only given to someone who has good block stats. There are outliers, obviously, but I truly do not believe that in this day in age where the entire league is position-less and every player does every skill at an elite level that we as fans need to accept that being good at blocking shots makes you a great defender.
A true lockdown needs to be able to guard 1–5. If I need a stop on Steph Curry one day, and Joel Embiid the next, a true defensive master should be able to step up to both challenges. A true lockdown also shouldn’t have to be surrounded by other defensive greats to impact winning. Rudy Gobert won three DPOYs in Utah almost exclusively because the rest of his team couldn’t stop water if they had a dam. That doesn’t take away from Rudy’s ability at all, but this year in particular, Minnesota’s defense is superb and it isn’t solely because of Rudy.
Victor Wembanyama, on the other hand, has proven time and time again that he is a defensive UNIT despite the lack of talent on his roster, AND he can guard 1–5. An irreplaceable skill in this modern NBA.
25 times this season, a player has recorded 6 or more blocks in a game: Vic has done it 9 times. No other player has done it more than 3 times (Chet Holmgren.)
Not to mention that Vic takes on a top assignment on the defensive end every night. Even more importantly, the stats back it up. 3.6 Blocks per game, 1.2 steals per game, 10.6 rebounds per game, defensive rating of 106, defensive win shares of 4.4, a block % of 10% (!!!), and a defensive box plus minus of 3.3.
One more thing to consider because it won’t ever show up in a box score or highlight reel: players are simply not shooting against Vic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a clip of teams having a 2-on-1 or even a 3-on-1 versus Vic, and they are purposely taking ANY OTHER SHOT THAN THE ONE THAT VIC WOULD DEFEND.
Victor is most certainly going to be a multi-time DPOY in the NBA, but this year, he is the inaugural Lockdown Award winner.
Also in contention: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves/Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat/Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
The God of War Award
Ares. Mars. Kratos.
No matter what myth you believe or prefer, all of these gods have a few qualities in common: passion, heart, tenacity, defending their own, and destroying anyone who gets in the way of that peace they long for. The God of War Award is the person who may not ever get the credit that another player on their team might get, but without them the team and their success would suffer.
It is my personal belief that if you do not have a player on your team that is willing to do the dirty work and be the engine of your team, you will not go very far into the postseason. Every team needs someone who will sacrifice their own offensive production for the betterment of the team’s aspirations.
Jalen Suggs this year has fundamentally changed the outlook of the Orlando Magic and their postseason hopes. Without his shift from being the lead guard in their offense to becoming the undisputed best defender on the team, I don’t believe that the other pieces on the Magic would have meshed as well as they did. Without his sacrifice, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Cole Anthony would not have stepped up their game this season. Without Suggs’ selflessness, the Magic’s defense would not be as good as it has been. Everything good that has happened this season on defense for the Magic this season has been a product of Jalen Suggs effort, heart, and desire.
If you were to ask any Orlando Magic fan, the Magic players, or even people who might have seen the Magic on a national TV game, no one displays all of those qualities more than Jalen Suggs.
To begin his career, Jalen was viewed as a point guard that would save a franchise. That did not come to fruition for him, but prior to this year, he met with his teammates and coaches to see what they needed from him. What they needed was a defensive leader, and he’s done just that. 1.4 SPG, defensive rating of 111, and a defensive win share of 3.1.
Along with the improvement of Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs is the reason that the Magic are outkicking their coverage, and why I think they could really shock some people this postseason. Every team needs a warrior on it, and that warrior this year is Jalen Suggs.
Also in contention: Derrick White, Boston Celtics/Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves
King of the Court Award
I’m going to be very transparent here. I wish there was a catch-all metric that would determine who is and who is not the best player in a given season, but that simply does not exist. When I think of how to determine a “most valuable” player, there is only one constant: what would this team be without this player?
In my view, when you are a top 10ish player in the entire league, it is very easy to feel or appear valuable when you have an all-star, or at bare minimum, great role player(s) on your team. It is even easier to appear valuable when those players are healthy and you are able to develop a deep chemistry. True brilliance on the basketball court, to me, shows most prominently when you aren’t as fortunate as others in the talent or the availability department.
Does that mean that if I could go back throughout history and rescind awards, that Michael Jordan and LeBron James would hover around 10 of these awards? Yes. Does that mean that in the 2016–2017 season that Celtics’ guard Isaiah Thomas would have won? You bet your ass. That’s what being the most valuable means. That’s what being King of the Court means.
I’ll hear your argument for Jokic or SGA because they are certainly some of the best basketball players in the history of the league, but for me and my money, this season’s King of the Court Award winner is Luka Doncic.
The Mavs are 46–24 when Luka plays this season and they are on a heater to end the season, going 18–8 since the All-Star break to secure the 4th seed in the West. As good as Kyrie has been for the Mavs this year, I don’t think we’d be viewing them the same if Luka wasn’t on the team. I mean, how do you replace 33.9 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 9.8 APG, all with 57/38/79 shooting splits?
You don’t. It’s that simple.
As good as other players are, we also have to consider that because of Luka’s stellar play, this team has overcome a lot of obstacles. The Mavs have not been healthy for the majority of the season. Hell, Luka and Kyrie have only played in 51 games together this year. Not to mention that there was a pretty significant roster shakeup at the trade deadline. If you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t know that though because PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford have fit in seamlessly this year, and it is all thanks to Luka’s playmaking, and historic season.
No one this season has done more with less this season than Luka Doncic.
Also in contention: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder/Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Round The Game 
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