With the end of the season upon us, it is time to send in my nonexistent awards ballot. I figured I would give you loyal readers a sneak peek at my selections.
All NBA Teams
1st
- G: Steph Curry
- G: Luka Doncic
- F: Kawhi Leonard
- F: Giannis Antetokuonmpo
- C: Nikola Jokic
Leaving Embiid off is tough, but you gotta stay on the court and not play the same position as the Pillsbury Playmaker, Jokic. I’m putting Luka as a guard because he dominates the ball on offense. I feel like the crop of forwards after Giannis are all the same. Incredible, but not necessarily distinct. Granted, they all do different things well, I mean distinct in their impact. It felt like splitting hairs so I gave Kawhi the pedigree vote.
2nd
- G: Dame Lillard
- G: Paul George
- F: Jimmy Butler
- F: Julius Randle
- C: Joel Embiid
Julius Randle has been incredible this year and I’m happy to reward him with this spot. Same for Jimmy Butler. I considered him for first team, as I said.
3rd
- G: Chris Paul
- G: Brad Beal
- F: LeBron James
- F: Zion Williamson
- C: Rudy Gobert
Choosing Beal over Westbrook is a personal call here. I could dig deeper on the metrics, and I know that Westbrook has been incredible of late, but Beal has been out here taking names all season. Also, one forward that came up higher than I expected, but just didn’t make the cut? Domantas Sabonis. The dude is a baller.
- Nikola Jokic
- Joel Embiid
- Steph Curry
- Chris Paul
If you follow basketball or have an annoying friend who follows basketball, this is probably no surprise. Jokic has been an absolute monster. A basketball maestro. I’m also hoping the Pillsbury Playmaker nickname takes off.
All-Defensive Team
- G: Ben Simmons
- G: Matisse Thybulle
- F: Giannis Antetokuonmpo
- F: Jimmy Butler
- C: Rudy Gobert
I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Joel Embiid. I realize that the NBA has listed him as forward eligible. Still, I can’t do it. He’s a center. I didn’t even have the attention span to scroll past the first page of Philly lineups to see if he played with Dwight for more than 30 seconds. I’m sorry, Joel, I feel like I’ve snubbed you, twice.
MFP – Most Fun Player
- Steph Curry
The honorable mention in this category is Zion Williamson. Both these guys can excite a crowd at any moment. Even if that crowd is me, alone, covered in a casual dusting of Cheeto dust. I chose Curry because he is simply breathtaking or perhaps a better term would be shoutmaking. Zion elicits similar responses, but it hasn’t translated to success in the same way. Check out Simon’s great piece about Steph and how he can affect a crowd. Curry has gotten to the point where I am already starting to shout as he’s starting to relocate off a pass because I know what’s about to happen.
Sixth Man of the Year
- Derrick Rose
The Knicks are 28-17 with him. He is a steadying presence for them. He’s making guys around him better. I realize that Jordan Clarkson is probably the more appropriate call here, but the Jazz could still be good without him. Joe Ingles might even be more important to the Jazz than Clarkson so they split my vote. Thus, I’ve decided to give the Knicks some love.
PIWWTD – Player I Would Want To Date
- Jaylen Brown
Please please take a moment to read Ethan’s piece on Jaylen Brown the other day. What’s not to like? He’s handsome, financially stable, he shattered his career highs in almost every category, and he fights for justice. He can take me out any time. We even almost had a meet-cute many years ago when the Cal basketball team kicked my pick-up group out of the gym for practice.
Dunk of the Year
- Miles Bridges on Clint Capella
- Ja Morant Windmill Alley
- Anthony Edwards on Yuta Watanabe
There were a lot of great options to choose from this season. Miles Bridges has, like, 3 of them. Anthony Edwards was the early favorite, but Yuta is 6’9” and not a rim protector. Ja’s jam was out of this world from an athletic standpoint. I can’t catch keys that are thrown to me when I’m standing still and this guy catches the pass, adjusts in the air with a windmill to slam it. Nuts. Miles cocks that ball sooooo far back and makes one of the best shot-blocking big men in the league pay the price. That was really what put it over the top for me. It’s NASTY.
Alright, those are my awards for the season. If you disagree, hit us up on social media. Have a great day.