How much do I love the NBA? Let's put it this way: I'm unemployed, single, a part time student, and I still don't feel like I have enough time for all the NBA basketball I want in my life. I may not be able to remember what I had for breakfast but I can remember how many points Paul Pierce scored in the second half of a game against the New Jersey Nets 10 years ago (46). For the last three months I've used the three hours a week of Pathophysiology class to play NBA Sporcle games and read through message boards, debating such amazing topics as "Lebron's Receding Hairline" and "What's the best nickname for Greg Stiemsma". I can rattle off the order of draft picks for just about every draft of the last 12 years, including where the draftees went to college. At a party one time in college I had a 20 minute conversation with a drunk classmate on why a zone defense wouldn't work against the Suns. Why am I telling you all of this.....no not because I had to prove that I really have no life, but to show you just how much I love the NBA. I've read Bill Simmons Book of Basketball enough times that I think I can recite it like snobby upper class people can recite Shakespeare. These are the reasons that I write this blog. I LOVE sports, especially basketball, and I love to share my passion for it with other people. So ya, the last day of the NBA regular season is a sad one for me, it means that I have to wait at least six months for another season to start. I might even have to find a job to help pass the time. So here goes.....
MVP:
The NBA MVP is the best MVP award in all of sports. Can you name the last 10 NFL, MLB, or NHL MVP's? I bet you can't. My guess is that you could at least stumble into the last 10 NBA MVP's, because the NBA MVP is rarely handed out to a guy that isn't GREAT. Let's look at those last ten guys that have won the trophy. 2001-2011 we had Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan (x2), Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash (x2), Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James (x2), and Derrick Rose. Every one of those guys is going to be a Hall of Famer. Other than Rose and possibly Nash they are also all among the top 30 guys to ever play in the NBA. So what am I trying to say here? I'm saying that the NBA MVP is more important and the person who wins it needs to have dominated a season to the point that ten years from now when you think back they are the first person you think of from the season. For me the contenders are Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, and Kevin Love. The only two guys who put up the stats that are worthy of the MVP award are James and Durant. Kobe, Love, Paul, Rondo, and Parker had excellent seasons but they're a step below Lebron and Durant.
Between Kevin Durant and Lebron James, I'm taking Lebron as the MVP. It's a regular season MVP award, so his playoff failures have nothing to do with this pick even if it is hard to understand how he can be so good in the regular season and so bad during the 4th quarter of playoff games. What it really came down to was that the main argument against Lebron is that his team is too good, but I actually think Durant is surrounded by more talent. Lebron is in a starting lineup with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joel Anthony, and Mario Chalmers along with nothing off the bench. Durant has Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefalosha, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and James Harden off the bench. I might be alone on this but I'd take the talent on OKC over the talent on Miami. Lebron has LESS help than Kevin Durant. Both are great players, but Lebron has put up historically great numbers and when I think of this season in 10 years it will be about his quest to get back to the finals.
Coach of the Year:
This boils down to three coaches competing for this award. It has to be either Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, or Tom Thibodeau. Pop has taken the Spurs and led them to the top of the Western Conference once again this season. I know what some of you are thinking though, "Come on, if I had Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili I'd be able to take the Spurs to the top of the West too". Well ask yourself a question, how many years in a row have you been saying that? Tim Duncan was drafted in 1997, Ginobili in 1999, and Parker in 2001, and they've been winning championships since the last strike shortened season in 1998-1999. The case for Doc Rivers is similar to that of Pop. He took a team led by older stars and has led them to a division championship and top four playoff seed. Combine that with the job he's done integrating Avery Bradley into the starting lineup and getting the best out of guys like Greg Stiemsma, Mickael Pietrus, and every other guy who was signed with the intention of wearing a suit and sitting on the bench cheering. He had to deal with season ending injuries to Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Wilcox, and Jeff Green while also losing Rondo, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen for stretches of time at different points in the season. Thibodeau won the award last year and this year he once again will be up for consideration because of how he kept the Bulls in the drivers seat of the Eastern Conference with 2011 MVP Derrick Rose sitting out for a third of the season.
Of the three I'm going to go with Doc. Call me a homer but he had to deal with injuries to just about everyone on the roster, had the confidence to play a 27 year old white rookie center big minutes in crucial games, and somehow talked Ray Allen into accepting a bench role. Props to Pop and Thibs but Boston asked Doc to do everything but suit up and play this season and somehow they're still the Atlantic Division champions.
Rookie of the Year:
I'm picking Ricky Rubio for this award and you can't stop me. I know he tore his ACL and missed the end of the season but I don't care he was the most important rookie in the league. Kyrie Irving had better stats but it didn't really matter because Cleveland didn't even come close to sniffing the playoffs. Rubio, along with Kevin Love, had the Timberwolves in position to make the playoffs before his unfortunate injury. Most experts had the T-Wolves as bottom feeders in the West once again but Rubio changed all that. He threw the best passes of any player in the league (sorry Rondo) and he energized an entire franchise that has had little to cheer about since KG left 5 years ago. When you think of the 2011-2012 season the first rookie that comes to mind will be Ricky Rubio. Sorry Kyrie, but no one in Cleveland has forgotten about Lebron yet.
Most Improved Player:
My apologies to all of the Jeremy Lin fans that are reading this but I just can't pick him for this one. I don't think he improved, he was just given a chance to finally start playing big minutes. It was a great story but if you look at the games before he got hurt he was starting to tail off. If you want to compare Jeremy to a band it would have to be Nirvana. Kurt Cobain killed himself when Nirvana was at its apex, allowing music fans to romanticize them forever after, much the same way that Jeremy Lin injured himself at his apex allowing basketball fans to romanticize how great he was. The difference is that Lin will be back next year, probably overpaid, and everyone will find out that he isn't nearly as good as he showed in his first few games.
The real winner of this award should be a guy who was in the NBA for a while but never really made the kind of impact people thought he would before finally living up to his potential this year. For me the guy that fits that description, primarily because I just wrote it for him, is Gerald Green. G-Money was a first round draft pick by the Celtics in 2005 and was playing in Russia by 2010. That is a LOOOONNNGGG way to fall. He entered the D-League this year and enjoyed tons of success before dominating the D-League all star game and getting the call-up from the Nets. Since getting called up he's had the dunk of the year and is scoring 12.5 points per game on excellent efficiency. So "The Shocker" (check out his right hand) is taking this award home.
Defensive Player of the Year:
For me, this award belongs to Kevin Garnett. Check out the way he shut down Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, and every other great power forward in the league. Maybe I'm a homer and maybe it's because I've watched just about every Celtics game this year but Kevin Garnett is still the best defender in the league. It's incredible that even with the loss of athleticism over the years he can still shut down talented players that are 10 years younger than him. Tyson Chandler, Tony Allen, Andre Iguodala, and Dwight Howard were also up for this award. Tyson was the closest to unseating Garnett and if he had been coached by Mike Woodson all season he may have. Unfortunately for Tyson he had to play for Mike "no D" D'Antoni with defensive midgets Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire as teammates. Tony Allen doesn't play enough minutes to really qualify for the award, although he's probably the best wing defender in the league. Iguodala is a great defender but a little overrated. Dwight Howard is just a big douche bag who bailed on his team and threw his coach under the bus. We'll remember this as the season where Dwight Howard committed character suicide.
Sixth Man:
So there are the NBA regular season awards. Check back next week when I'll be posting my playoff predictions, sure to be wrong. Remember to leave a comment, go back and read my other blogs, become a fan of this blog, and follow me on twitter @joshviola19.
-Josh
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