With just a little over a week remaining in the NBA season, let's get a jump on who should win the individual awards. The envelope please...
MVP: KOBE BRYANT, LAKERS. During the MJ era, voters kept finding excuses not to give the MVP to Michael Jordan. Now, it's Kobe's turn to get the Jordan rule..."you're too good so let's give someone else the award" treatment. I thought Kobe should have won MVP two years ago when he averaged 35 points a game and had the defining moment of the season when he torched Toronto for 81 points. It was only the second highest scoring game in NBA history. But the scribes thought the Lakers' record was too weak to validate Bryant as a most valuable player. So, they gave the Maurice Podoloff trophy to Dirk Nowitzki last year and Steve Nash...TWICE! Ten, fifteen or 20 years from now, we're all going to look back and scratch our heads and try to explain to our grandkids how in the world Nowitzki and Nash win MVP when Kobe was clearly the dominant player of that era.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: AL HORFORD, ATLANTA HAWKS. My vote goes to Horford because his Hawks are in playoff contention and I have a hard time giving the ROY to a guy whose team has won 18 games this season. Sorry, Kevin Durant. Horford does not have flashy numbers (10 points and 9 boards) but he's been a rock all season for the playoff-bound Hawks. The rest of the all-rookie are: Durant, Luis Scola of the Rockets, Al Thornton of the Clippers and Nick Young of the Wizards.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: MANU GINOBILI, SPURS. This might be a little bit of a stretch since Manu is really a starter. He plays 31 minutes a game and, I'm no math major, but I believe that is more than half the game. But, officially the Spurs are listing him as a reserve so that means Ginobili should win this award hands down.
DEFENSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: KEVIN GARNETT, CELTICS. KG finally gets validated after being ignored as an all-around defender while in Minnesota. He has single-handedly changed the culture at Boston. The Celtics are among the league leaders in points allowed (90.21) and field-goal defense (41.9) thanks to Garnett. The first-team all-defenders are: KG, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen and Josh Smith. Chris Paul, Raja Bell, Andre Iguodala and Tayshaun Prince are also worthy first-teamers.
COACH OF THE YEAR: DOC RIVERS, BOSTON CELTICS. Just for the record. I hate the Celtics so my choice of Doc Rivers was based strictly on the person and not the team. Doc is a quality guy and deserves to be validated after suffering through rough times last year. Byron Scott should get some love, but he's won this award before (see New Jersey Nets) so let's give Doc his due.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE, PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS. Just imagine how good Aldridge will become as soon as Greg Oden returns from his injury. Scary good. The Blazers are banking on Aldridge to be Oden's sidekick for the next 10-15 years. He doubled his scoring output from 9 to almost 18 per game and raised his rebounds from 5 to 7. With Oden, Aldridge and Brandon Roy, Portland is officially back on the NBA map.
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: KENYON MARTIN, DENVER NUGGETS. K-Mart was left for dead after enduring two devastating knee operations last year. Now, he looks like he's getting his lift back and his points per game is back to where it was two years ago. I also would not have a problem if Chris Kaman of the Clippers gets this award. Kaman took full advantage of Elton Brand's absence and was the lone bright spot for the Clips.
ALL NBA FIRST TEAM: G-Kobe Bryant, Lakers; G-Chris Paul, Hornets; F-LeBron James, Cavaliers; F-Kevin Garnett, Celtics; C-Tim Duncan, Spurs.
ALL NBA SECOND TEAM: G-Chauncey Billups, Pistons; G-Deron Williams, Jazz; F-Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks; F-Amare Stoudemire, Suns; C-Dwight Howard, Magic.
Honorable mention: Baron Davis, Warriors; Steve Nash, Suns; Paul Pierce, Celtics; Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets; David West, Hornets; Pau Gasol, Lakers.
Keywords: coach of the year, MVP, NBA, rookie of the year
