Inside Blitz: NBA Awards, From the Obvious (MVP) to the Challenging (Best Single-Game Performance)
By Jason McIntyre
The NBA regular season ends today, mercifully for teams like the Knicks and 76ers, who have been playing for the draft for months. We’ll be rolling out a Playoff “preview” tomorrow, and our predictions on Friday, but today we’ll use this space to dole out awards for the 2014-2015 season.
MVP: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. Wrap your mind around this — the wiry kid from Davidson who was only recruited by low and mid-majors has become the greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history. I know they played in different eras, but Larry Bird made 649 three-pointers in his 13-year career (regular season only). Stephen Curry has made 817 in the last three seasons. Also, nice handle.
Worst Free Agent Acquisition in Summer of 2014: Lance Stephenson, Charlotte Hornets. I actually said Stephenson was smart to pass up $17 million from the Pacers to take less money and bet on himself. Whoops! Stephenson shot 37 percent from the field, 17 percent (!) on 3-pointers and was a complete disaster in Charlotte. After finishing 7th and making the playoffs, the Hornets are back in the lottery.
Congrats on Compiling Terrific Stats on a Terrible Team: DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings. I think Kevin Love had won this award the last few years. Cousins was magnificent offensively in Sacramento: 24.1 ppg (5th) and 12.7 rpg (3rd). Surely, the Knicks will trade for him. But Jason, he’s been Top 10 in PER the last two years! Yeah, so was Kevin Love …
General Manager of the Year: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron got the struggling Cavs to give up two future 1st round picks for Timofey Mozgov, and got Dion Waiters shipped out of return for JR Smith and Iman Shumpert. It was a stroke of brilliance for GM LeBron, who rebounded from a rocky start.
Best Gesture by a Great Player: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder. The All-Star game MVP gave a car he won to a single mother. Westbrook also morphed into Kobe Bryant with Kevin Durant injured, putting up obscene numbers and taking all of the shots.
Best Individual Performance in a Game: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers. Much tougher decision than MVP, given all the incredible games by James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and LeBron. But the honor here goes to Irving, for scoring 57 points against the Spurs, including nine in the final minute to force overtime, and then scoring another 11 in the extra session.
Worst Pass of the NBA Season: (Tie) Anthony Bennett of the Timberwolves and Alexey Shved of the Knicks. Slight edge to Bennett, seeing as he was the No. 1 overall pick.
Fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious.
Coach of the Year: Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors. Took a very good team that lost in the 1st round of the playoffs last year and turned them into Title favorites and shockingly, a defensive juggernaut. Sixty-six wins (their over/under was 51). Runner-up: Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta Hawks.
Most Worthy of Getting Clowned on Shaqtin a Fool: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks. Foolishly inked to a 5-year, $129 million extension in the offseason. Proceeded to have arguably the worst season in his 12-year career. Missed 42 games with various injuries, didn’t want to sit on the bench, and hey, he turns 31 next month.
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Wiggins, G/F, Minnesota. There’s not really a debate about this anymore, is there? Feels like as much of a lock as J.K. Simmons was for Whiplash.
Winner of the “You Cost Yourself Millions in 2015 Free Agency”: Rajon Rondo, Dallas Mavericks. From insubordination to the worst shooting of his career, just how coveted will the 29-year old be? The Celtics traded him and got better; the Mavericks traded for him and got worse. I still think a Rondo-Kobe pairing makes the most sense. Crazy NBA contracts are given out routinely every July, but I just don’t see anyone giving him a max deal.
Player Most Likely to Get a Max Contract in 2015 That Nobody Could Have Predicted a Year Ago: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors. Star at Michigan State, 2nd round pick, always seemed slightly overweight and a tweener, but with David Lee hurt early, Green got extended playing time and never relinquished it. A hound defensively (and a trash talker), he averaged 11.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg and nobody will face a more difficult “wanna win or wanna get paid?” decision in July.
Where the Hell Did He Come From?: Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat. Second round draft pick in 2010, played very sparingly with the Kings, spent a lot of time in the D-League, then hop-scotched to Lebanon and China before getting a shot with the Heat. From January-March, he was a defensive menace, and finished 2nd in the NBA in blocks (2.56 in only 48 games). If he can keep his head on straight – big IF – the nearly-26-year old could be a force next season.
MEDIA ODDS & ENDS:
We opened the column with the season ending mercifully for the 76ers and Knicks, and we close it with the TV career at ESPN ending for Lou Holtz. Anyone on this planet would be happy if they were still taking checks for being on TV at the age of 77 (Holtz turned 78 in January) … super nerdy media inside story on how CAA lost a bunch of agents to a rival agency in the middle of the night … RIP longtime Philadelphia columnist Stan Hochman … Bud Withers retired this month after 45 years at the Seattle Times … ESPN’s Sage Steele is going to be giving the commencement speech at the University of Indiana … lastly, congrats to the “Boomer and Carton” show for pulling monster ratings and hammering Mike & Mike in NYC. As someone who has tried to listen to both shows, I often opt for Howard Stern or Backspin or 80s or 90s or 00s, but don’t tell that to Carton, who is a thin-skinned chap.