It’s been a both very long and very short season for the NBA; in some aspects it feels like this season has lasted a lifetime but in others it feels like we just had the Christmas Day games. With all 82 games behind us it’s time to look back and figure out who were the cream of the crop. If you missed the first or second installment of my awards feel free to take a peak at the criteria and parameters I’ve designed for them, but I’ll try to be less wordy this time around.
It’s always difficult to narrow the award winners down when we watch a league with so much talent, but everyone mentioned in this article had a fantastic season and shouldn’t feel differently. Without any further adieu, let’s jump into it.
The Coach Carter Award
Some people look at this award and think it belongs to the head coach of the team with the best record in the NBA. Other people think it belongs to the coach who had the biggest jump from last year. There have been plenty of times throughout my basketball watching career that I’ve fallen into one of those camps, but this year it’s a bit different for me.
Sometimes a coach gets handed such a bad hand that if they failed and won 20 games on the year, you would sort of expect it. That was the case for Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics this year. After winning the NBA Championship in 2024 the expectations were just as high the following year. Unfortunately when Jayson Tatum went down with a Achilles tear the future of the franchise was altered drastically. The following summer the Celtics moved on from (or didn’t retain) four Championship rotation players in Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Kristaps Porzingis, not to mention that they would be without Jayson Tatum for at least 75% of the season.
Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics could have very easily had a gap year, punted on being competitive, and tried to position themselves for a top 3 pick in this year’s loaded draft class. Instead, they decided to do what they do best: win. In a potential “gap year” the Celtics won 56 games, finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference standings, had the 2nd best offense and the 4th best defense in the league, and finished with a net rating of 8.3 only behind the Thunder, Spurs, and Pistons. Jaylen Brown had one heck of a year as well, but when it comes down to it, Joe Mazzulla got the best out of (and unlocked in some cases) Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, Jordan Walsh, and Neemias Queta. Lesser coaches would have failed, but that’s not what Joe Mazz does.
2nd: Charles Lee, Charlotte Hornets
3rd: Jordan Ott, Phoenix Suns
The Up NXT Award
I’ve made it no secret that I truly hate what the NBA’s “Most Improved Player” award has become. I mean for the basketball god’s sake as I’m writing this article Jalen Johnson and Deni Avdijia are both in the running when anyone who watches basketball on any serious level knows that the both of them broke out last season. This is a stark contrast to that award in the fact that I actually look to the future and (based on what was actually shown this season) see what their future could hold.
Some people who follow my socials closely may call this bias as I’ve recently accepted a contributor position on SB Nation’s SLC Dunk site talking about the Utah Jazz, but I’m here to tell you that even if that never happened it’s hard to deny the kind of season that Keyonte George has had. 23.6/6.1/3.7 a night on 45.6/37.1/89.2 shooting splits while increasing your scoring average by 7 PPG AND having an above league average TS% does not happen very often.
Does he have defensive shortcomings? Yes. Is he a natural facilitator? No. Do the Jazz still have some steps to take to get the most out of him going forward? 100%, but that doesn’t mean that Keyonte has reached his apex. I’d argue that we’re just getting started, and if I’m right, we’ll be seeing him in the All-Star game next year. I think that Keyonte has superstar written all over him, and while he does have some things to work on, when the Utah Jazz are competitive again I think that he’ll be the reason why.
2nd: Neemias Queta, Boston Celtics
3rd: Ryan Rollins, Milwaukee Bucks
The New Kid on the Block Award
I caught some flack for my first ever New Kid of the Block award recipient during the 2023-2024 season, but my mind will never be changed. This is not an award for the rookie who will have the best career moving forward, it is for the rookie who had the best season. I know that it was almost a decade ago now, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that Jaylen Brown has had a better career than the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year winner Malcom Brogdon. This season is no different, and that’s why Kon Knueppel walks away with the hardware.
Sure, there are some external factors that play into this for Cooper Flagg: the Mavericks roster was depleted with Anthony Davis being hurt (then traded) and Kyrie Irving being injured, Jason Kidd tried to make him a point guard, and (respectfully because I do like him a lot) the second best player he’s had all year was Naji Marshall. Had things been different we may be having a different conversation, but what can’t be denied is the kind of season that Kon had.
AS A ROOKIE led the NBA in 3PM with 273 (which is higher than ANY season total made by Ray Allen), averaged 18.5 PPG, shot 42.5% from 3 on 8 attempts a game, and finished with a 119 offensive rating which is good for top 30 in the league (of players who played at least 50 games) and the next closest rookie was Hugo Gonzalez with 106 who finished 73rd. He certainly had a lighter offensive load than Cooper Flagg had, but still managed to be more efficient and have similar scoring outputs on over 100 less shots on the season. Above all else Kon contributed to winning more for the Hornets this year than Cooper did with the Mavericks. Cooper Flagg will likely go down as the best player from this draft, but Kon the Don without a doubt (to me at least) had the best season.
2nd: Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
3rd: VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
The Super 6 Award
The idea of just handing someone this kind of award because they “had the best stats off the bench” has always driven me up a wall. Being a 6th Man is so much more than your scoring effort; it’s about embracing the identity of the Super 6. The San Antonio Spurs had a great example of that for many years in Manu Ginobili; someone who could have easily played as a starter for another team but put the team first and sacrificed the individual glory. It only makes sense that this year the Super 6 award belong to another San Antonio Spur: Keldon Johnson.
The Spurs have been blessed with a lot of talent as of late: Dylan Harper started to really find his footing in the last 30 games, Stephon Castle looks like the guy I always thought he could be in the league, and then they have this guy who you might have heard of named Victor Wembanyama (more on him later). When you add pieces like De’Aaron Fox, Devin Cassell, and Julian Champagnie to the mix it’s really easy to see why the Spurs have been as good as they have been this year. That does, however, leave the bench in a bit of a desolate state. Enter: Keldon Johnson.
Keldon Started ZERO games this year, averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds and shot pretty efficiently including a really respectable 36% from 3. Keldon is one of the only players in the entire league who actually play like their life depends on it, and while that sometimes has its downfalls, it’s undeniably been a net positive for the Spurs this year. The starting 5 will without a doubt get a lot of the credit for the team success this year, but if it wasn’t for Keldon leading the bench unit, I think this team would look drastically different.
2nd: Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves
3rd: Ajay Mitchell, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Lockdown Award
It’s Wemby. I could probably leave it at that because what else am I supposed to say? He’s had an argument to win the award for 3 straight years to start off his career (he did win the inaugural Lockdown Award and only missed the second one because of DVT), so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s the winner again this year.
He averaged 3.1 blocks per game, he chipped in a steal a game as well, and I can’t track this precisely but I’d imagine he leads the league in N.O.P.E.’s a game as well with about 1000. He’s the most impactful defender of a generation, can truly guard 1-5, and if he had never figured it out on the offensive end his floor would have been a all-time defender. Luckily for the Spurs not only is he their anchor defensively, but he’s also averaging 25 PPG. Whatever deal with the devil the organization made to get Wemby, I’d suggest that other franchises to the same because Vic is only going to get better so he very well may end his career with 10 of these Lockdown awards.
2nd: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves
3rd: Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
The God of War Award
I like for my defenders to have a little bit of grit to them: do the dirty work, take the toughest assignments, and do whatever is necessary to win the game. The league has plenty of guys who fit that mold and hopefully we never run out, but to me there was one guy who stood out amongst the rest when it game to this specific award: Ausar Thompson.
A little bit of history here as Ausar joins his brother Amen as the only brothers to win the award so far (Amen won the 2024-2025 award). The Pistons had high expectations coming into this year after their breakout 2024-2025 campaign, and while Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren deserve a lot of the credit on the offensive end, Ausar Thompson (and Isaiah Stewart) deserve all of the credit on the defensive end. The Pistons ended the year with the second best defensive rating in the league (108.9) only trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Ausar left his fingerprints all over the game: lead the league with 2 steals a game, 316 deflections, 107.4 defensive rating (only playing 26 minutes a game), and opponents shot 3.3% worse when he was guarding them which was in the 92nd percentile. I think that if he had played 35 minutes a game we’d be talking about him in an even brighter light, but for now he can be our little secret. That is, until next year when the rest of the world figures out how much of a defensive monster he really is.
2nd: Derrick White, Boston Celtics
3rd: Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
The 2 Hard 2 Guard Award
If you missed last year’s awards, this is both the newest and most objective award that I have. No bias involved; only data and numbers. For those who didn’t read last year’s article or click on the link above here’s what we’re working with:
Again, please click on the link to see exactly why I chose these stats to determine the league’s best offensive player, but when it comes down to it no one should be surprised; the winner, for the 6th year in a row is Nikola Jokic who finished the year with a 54.78 Roundball Range.
He scored nearly 28 points per game, lead the league in rebounds AND assists, had a 134 offensive rating, had a 67 TS%, and also lead the league in offensive win share and offensive box plus/minus. This kind of thing is becoming routine for Jokic, and while it’s pretty easy to write this off as “just what he does,” I won’t let it pass me by that we’re witnessing the greatest stretch of offense a player has ever displayed. Jokic is very easily the greatest offensive engine in league history, and while we’re closer to the end than we are the beginning of his career, it wouldn’t shock me one bit if we wins this award for 4 more years after this. Don’t take his greatness for granted.
2nd: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
3rd: Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers
The King of the Court Award
In a league that is FILLED with all-time talent, this award becomes more and more difficult to find a clear winner. I could make arguments for probably 6-10 guys to actually win the award because the league is that talented. Ultimately my criteria for this award has always been “what would this team be without this player” and that’s why, for back-to-back years, the winner of this award is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
SGA was second in the league for scoring with 31.1 PPG, had 55/38/88 shooting splits, finished with a 121 offensive rating, a 66.5 TS% (which is 8.6% higher than league average), finished with the 2nd highest PER, and the 4th highest usage rate. Defensively he’s just as impressive with a 105 defensive rating, 2.2 stocks per game, and opponents shot 4.2% worse when being guarded by Shai which was in the 98th percentile. Oh, AND, he did all of this without his #2 scoring option for 49 games. The Thunder won 64 games this year without their #2… do you know how insane that is?
There are a lot of guys who deserve to be in this conversation: Jokic, Kawhi, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, and even Jalen Johnson come to mind. Again, with so much talent in the league it’s hard to decide on one single player for the award, but throughout this entire season SGA has been the definition of consistency and excellence, the counting stats, the advanced stats, and the eye test all say he belongs here, and that’s why he walked away with the King of the Court Crown yet again.
2nd: Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers
3rd: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
I’m considering next year opening this award race up to followers and mutuals to make it a “true” Hooper’s Choice Awards like the Oscars or Emmy’s, but I’ll need more of a following I think to make it as objective as possible instead of having my very dedicated followers and mutuals who always react to my stuff be the only ones who vote, but we’ll see.
What do you think? Who deserved these awards? Who got snubbed? Let me know in the comments.
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