Ty's Two Cents on the NBA Awards

With the NBA restart approaching, and boy do I hope it happens, award season is right around the corner. They usually do it during the Finals, but 2020 has been anything but normal, so they have had to push all their awards to the beginning of the restart playoffs. But, the people who vote have to have their ballots in within the next week.

Some of the awards I feel are easy. I think Nick Nurse is coach of the year hands down. Toronto has been surprisingly great, and they lost Kawhi. Brandon Ingram should be a shoo in for most improved. He has only gotten better in every phase of his game, he was an all star I believe and he is the reason why the Pelicans are where they are right now. Zion is the reason people want to watch, but Ingram has carried the offensive load in his absence. Lou Williams or Montrezl Harrell are winning sixth man. The Clippers have owned that award since they signed Jamal Crawford years ago, and that has continued since they signed Williams and traded for Harrell.

The MVP and defensive player of the year, to some, seems to be the one with some questions. Not for me. I think Giannis more than deserves both of these awards. He was the MVP last season, and he has been better this year. It shows on the floor and in the stats. The Bucks are also, record wise, the best team in the league. Giannis is also putting up these numbers in less minutes than last season. Add on his newfound tenacity on defense, he is far and away the MVP. And his defense, he is getting to that Kawhi level. He erases whoever he defends on any given night. He is so long, so it's easy for him to block shots or recover on the rare occasion he gets beat. He is one of the better thieves in the league, getting a solid amount of steals for a power forward. He can also be a rim protector. He can guard the perimeter. Giannis, once he gets a semblance of the jump shot, will be more unstoppable than he is right now. He is the MVP, and he is the defensive player of the year. It is that easy for me.

I have heard some argue that it isn't that clean cut. I have seen names like Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis mentioned as DPOY. Sure, they are good, but not Giannis good. Look, I think Gobert is one of the best modern defenders this league has seen, but he won't get the award this year because people will point to him as the guy that shut the league down. Also, he can't guard the perimeter like Giannis can. Giannis has taken that step. While Gobert is the best rim protector, Giannis can do it well, and he can also guard shooters. Anthony Davis came out like a house on fire with his defense, and had he kept that up, I would have listened to an argument. But he tailed off near the shut down. He would do good things here and there, but he wasn't the dominant force that he was in the first half of the year. I think the Lakers also asked him to take on more of the offensive load, and that meant defense had to take a little hit. Davis is still a great defender, but he isn't Giannis.

As for the MVP, Giannis is a no brainer for me, but some have started to take LeBron James' side. In fact, I think a lot has to do with voters doing to Giannis what they have done to LeBron. They don't want to vote for the same guy year after year. It has happened to LeBron, Shaq, Jordan and Giannis seems like the new guy that will have to endure this. Don't get me wrong, LeBron has been wonderful this year, and to do the things he has done at 35 years old and 18 years in the league is amazing. But, I think Giannis is more valuable to the Bucks than LeBron is to the Lakers. Both teams wouldn't be that good without either guy, but I think the Lakers would be a little better if they had the same roster they currently have. AD, Rondo, Kuzma, Danny Green, these are vets, all stars and solid players. Sure, the Bucks have Khris Middleton, but he only got good with Giannis. Same thing with Eric Bledose, and he chokes in the playoffs. After that, the Bucks have solid guys, but no one near Davis, and no one that will impose their will like some of the guys the Lakers have. Both LeBron and Giannis have had great years, but Giannis is coming off an MVP season and he is better. I just don't see how he doesn't win the MVP again. He deserves, his team is better record wise and they'd be a middling, at best, team, if he weren't there.

That's just my 2 cents.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the best damn basketball writer on all the internets.

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