Banter's 2022 NBA Awards

This was a weird fucking NBA season. 

Even if you remove the COVID outbreak that had the league on the verge of a shutdown and rolling out G-League rosters for weeks during the Omicron wave, there was plenty of the unexpected afoot. 

For starters, the two preseason championship favorites both completely imploded for various reasons, with the Nets clinging for dear life to a play-in spot and the Lakers being eliminated entirely.

The early-season adjustments to the new ball and foul rules handcuffed some of the NBA's biggest stars and led to an insane run of Under hits for sports bettors before scoring exploded over the season's second half. 

Teams like the Cavaliers and Raptors came out of nowhere to make the Eastern Conference extremely competitive, while injuries to squads like the Clippers and Nuggets left voids in a normally very top-heavy West.

The Grizzlies somehow finished second in the league despite being a projected play-in team and their fringe MVP candidate missing 20+ games. The Timberwolves are in the thick of the playoff hunt and playing competent defense. The Clippers stayed afloat without either of their superstars for much of the season. The Hawks sucked. The Knicks sucked more. The Wizards were first in the East at one point this season. And, conversely, the Celtics staged one of the biggest mid-season turnarounds in NBA history. 

It's been a fun ride so far, and things should only get better over the coming weeks, with one of the most wide-open and compelling postseason scenarios that have been conjured up in quite some time.

But before we dive into the playoffs, let's take a quick moment to reflect on those that really showed out during the regular season, with the only column I ever seem to write on this blog anymore (you can catch my regular stuff over at Covers.com).

So, in a time-honored tradition, coming to you on tape-delay from a weed-filled basement in Halifax, Nova Scotia, it's Banter's 2022 NBA Awards. Envelopes please...

(All stats as of 4/8.)

Most Improved Player: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

Before we get to the awards that were actually a decision this year, let's get a couple out of the way that were absolute layups. 

The meaning of "most improved" can take on many connotations, but historically, the most impressive stride a player can make in the context of this award is The Leap into the stratosphere of a bonafide superstar. 

And Morant made that leap about as loudly as possible this year.

Ja's scoring shot up from 19.1 to 27.6 ppg, in what was, by far, his most efficient shooting season yet. He tacked on career-highs in rebounds, steals and blocks for good measure, averaging 25/5/5 for his third season, which basically doesn't happen unless you are historically good at basketball. Morant's usage rate shot up from 27.2 to 33.8%, while decreasing his turnover rate despite being one of the NBA's most targeted and ambitious playmakers.

Speaking of ambitious, Ja's relentless pursuit of highlights on both ends of the ball produced one of the best single-season mixtapes ever, on par with prime Vince Carter and Blake Griffin. His unique combination of boundless hops, crafty handle, third-eye vision, and sheer audacity leave Grizzlies viewers constantly unsure just what he might pull next.

And there's substance to the style. The Grizzlies were the NBA's second-best team this season, and Ja was a huge part of that (despite their much-ballyhooed success with him injured). Morant gave the Grizzlies a leader to rally behind — his fearlessness, unselfishness and indelible pride in repping for Memphis bled through the entire roster. This group loved playing together, which undoubtedly contributed to arguably the NBA's biggest team success story — and that started at the top.

Garland and Murray get our regards below, and they both had amazing seasons that would've held weight for serious contention in most fields. But Ja was everywhere this year and should be a landslide winner here.

Regards to: Darius Garland, Dejounte Murray

Sixth Man of the Year: Tyler Herro, Miami Heat

This year's 6MOY was one of the easiest awards to decide in recent memory. Herro was the betting odds leader for this award from the very first week of the season. By December, he was an odds-on, meaning he was favored against the rest of the field. By the time most sportsbooks closed Sixth Man markets a couple weeks ago, Herro was listed at -20,000, meaning you would have to wager $20,000 to win $100 betting on him. 

This wasn't even an award race, it was a coronation. 

Herro averaged 20.7 points this season, leading qualifying bench players by over four points per, at a mark that has only been topped once by a qualifying bench player (Lou Williams, 21.9 in 2017-18) in the past 15 years. He kicked in regular huge contributions for the Heat, who were seemingly nursing some sort of key injury at every juncture this season.

But while Herro put up a season that would've wrapped Sixth Man anyway in what's usually a competitive field, nobody else really stepped up to the plate. 

Montrezl Harrell was beasting to start the season, then faded and was traded. Kelly Oubre Jr. got hot for like two weeks in December and plateaued hard after that. Kevin Love played relevant basketball again, but never seemed to get consistent minutes, even with Cleveland's endless onslaught of injuries. Reigning champ Jordan Clarkson's numbers tailed off from last year, as did teammate runner-up Joe Ingles' before suffering a devastating ACL tear.

In this weak of a field, Herro was untouchable off the bench and should win this award unanimously. 

Regards to: Nobody really.

All-Rookie Teams

First Team: Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Josh Giddey, Franz Wagner

Second Team: Ayo Dosunmu, Herbert Jones, Chris Duarte, Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun

The First Team is mostly locks. There could be an argument made for Jones over Giddey or Wagner, and I can't fault someone who values Jones' health and defense over Giddey's early-season inefficiency and ultimate injury.

Dosunmu and Jones should be penned in for the Second Team, with the final spots between Duarte, Green, Sengun, Bones Hyland and Davion Mitchell. The latter two are close snubs, with Hyland ultimately not seeing enough floor time, and Mitchell's post-Kings-tank surge coming a bit too late. 

Rookie of the Year: Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

This was not fun.

The margins between Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley are close. Like, really, really, sickeningly, I'm-having-sincere-anxiety-about-this-decision-close. Honestly, anyone who gives this award to Mobley: I have no quarrel with you. 

Their stats are painfully similar, even as fundamentally different players. Both averaged damn near 15/8 on 50% from the field with mirroring usage rates; Barnes averaged more steals and assists, Mobley more blocks and rebounds.

Both players posted strong advanced stats profiles for rookies, and again, there's very little to separate the two, but the broader scope begins to paint Scottie as the better overall rookie. While Mobley has a slight edge in RPM, Barnes has the better rating in PER, VORP and win shares, and in FiveThirtyEight's aptly-named RAPTOR metric, Barnes sits 66th while Mobley is almost comically slighted in 163rd. 

Mobley was an amazing defender for a rookie and will likely wind up a close call for the All-Defensive Second Team, but Barnes was also awesome on D, particularly down the stretch. The gap between them isn't as big as some people would have you think 

And while Mobley's brilliance was crucial to an injury-riddled team that over-achieved significantly this season, his narrative isn't too far off what Barnes achieved with Toronto, his surprise campaign every bit as integral to the Raptors' surprise-to-some success. 

Mobley's defense and intangibles are superior, but when so little separates these players and a broad scope of valuable metrics paint Barnes as the better player, having logged more games for what will end up as the better team, it's enough to make the trophy his. 

Regards to: Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham

Coach of the Year: Taylor Jenkins, Memphis Grizzlies

**stands behind COVID-style plastic barrier to avoid rancid vegetables being thrown by outraged readers claiming I'm a homer**

Okay, now that safety measures are in place. 

This award is always one of the toughest to decide, if not because of its arbitrariness then also because there are heaps of deserving candidates every year — this season was no different. 

But what Jenkins accomplished with the Grizzlies was a masterclass in NBA leadership, piloting a team that was supposed to compete for a lower-tier play-in spot to the second-best record in the NBA.

That in and of itself is enough of an overachievement to merit serious COY consideration, but how Jenkins did it was even more impressive. The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant — a borderline MVP candidate and shoe-in All-NBA selection — for 24 games, during which time they went 20-4. Often overlooked because the Grizzlies' depth is so ridiculous was that Dillon Brooks — the team's second-leading scorer and best perimeter defender — missed well over half of the season, too.

I get that the Suns were pretty close to unimpeachable, but their excellence wasn't really a this season thing. They made the fucking NBA Finals last year — we knew this team was really good. Memphis was far less of a sure thing, and its ability to lose a star without missing a beat — for longer and to better results than Phoenix did with Chris Paul — speaks to both Jenkins' creativity and consistency as a bench boss. 

Again, tough race, lots of deserving candidates. This hardly feels like a homer pick.

Regards to: Monty Williams, JB Bickerstaff, Tyronn Lue, Ime Udoka

All-Defensive Teams

First Team: G-Marcus Smart, G-Mikal Bridges, F-Giannis Antetkounmpo, F-Bam Adebayo, C- Rudy Gobert

Second Team: G-Jrue Holiday, G-Matisse Thybulle, F-Evan Mobley, F-Jaren Jackson Jr., C-Robert Williams III

Smart and Bridges are relatively easy selections as this season's two premiere perimeter ballhawks that saw the floor enough to contend here (sorry, Alex Caruso & Gary Payton II). Antetokounmpo is a no-brainer, and the only real knock against Adebayo is the six weeks he missed, which is tougher to dock a player for in a season where pretty much everyone missed time. We're sliding Adebayo into a forward spot, as he definitely belongs on the First Team, along with Gobert, who also missed time but can't be relegated. 

Thybulle gets the Second Team's first guard spot fairly easily, while Holiday still passes the eye test a bit better than snubs like Patrick Beverley (who's lost a half-step) and Fred VanVleet (who, despite being an apex irritant, simply isn't big enough to close out like Holiday can). JJJ would've had a First Team spot if he'd kept his post-December pace up for the season's first two months, and Williams was, by pretty much any metric, either first or second-best defensive center this year. The last spot goes to Mobley, a preternatural defender who somehow finished seventh in DRPM as a rookie, in a close call over Jarred Vanderbilt and Pascal Siakam.

Defensive Player of the Year: Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat

Full transparency: I'm writing my DPOY from an airport bar at 7am on my way to Cancun — if it seems like I mailed this one in a bit, that's why.

Another difficult award to decide, only this time it's because nobody really has an iron-clad case here. 

Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green spent the majority of this season trading blows as the two heavy favorites, but then both of them got hurt in late January, with their teams' defenses promptly going to shit as a result. While the effects only underscore the importance of these two dudes to their respective teams' resistances, Draymond ultimately missed too much time, while Utah's defense remained fairly bad even when Gobert returned. 

In their wakes, Marcus Smart and Bam Adebayo made late charges over season-long contenders Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mikal Bridges. While Smart and Bridges both pass the ye test with flying colors, metrics do little to support their case as the best defender on their own teams, let alone in the entire league. We can't lean purely on stats, especially in defensive realms, but they can help clear murky waters.

Antetokounmpo was his usual brilliant self, but Milwaukee's never been worse on defense in his prime, and stopped playing it entirely for a solid month in February-March before flipping the switch late in the season. 

That leaves us with Adebayo, who, despite missing close to six weeks with a thumb injury, was arguably both the most diverse and impactful defender in the league for a Top-5 defense that was arguably the league's best at full strength.

There's your DPOY. Now, back to my Caesar.

Regards to: Marcus Smart, Rudy Gobert

All-NBA Teams

First Team: G-Luka Doncic, G-Devin Booker, F- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-Joel Embiid, C-Nikola Jokic

Second Team: G-Ja Morant, G-DeMar DeRozan, F-Jayson Tatum, F-Kevin Durant, C-Karl-Anthony Towns

Third Team: G-Stephen Curry, G-Chris Paul, F-LeBron James, F-Pascal Siakam, C-Rudy Gobert

Joker, Embiid and Giannis were the three best players in the NBA this season — they all need to be on the First Team. You'll probably note that Embiid doesn't play forward. The league has made him and Jokic eligible at the position erroneously, as a loophole, because they know shoehorning us into position-specific voting that leaves one of the two best players on the Second Team is extremely ridiculous. 

Doncic was nuclear over the second half, and even his "slow start" was still an All-NBA-worthy effort. Booker gets the last First Team spot in a close call over Morant and DeRozan, with Ja missing a bit too much time and DeMar's Bulls semi-imploding in the second half. 

Thus, Morant and DeRozan slot in on the second team, easily joined, in my mind at least, by Tatum — who made yet another staggered leap in this season's second half and is now inarguably a Top-10 player. Durant should be here too; he missed a lot of time but was possibly still the best player around when healthy. And Towns not only delivered another steller offensive campaign, but his best on defense, which helped define Minnesota's success.

Curry was the MVP odds favorite early in the season, but then he had his worst shooting month in recent memory and, on the heels of that, got injured. He has to be docked, but not too much. Paul takes the last guard spot in a close call over Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet and Trae Young, partly because he's still awesome and partly because Phoenix kinda needs a second guy here. They were that good. 

Siakam had the best season of his career and was a diverse threat on both sides of the ball, often playing out of position at center and unlocking the lineups Toronto thrived with. LeBron's here in spite of the Lakers being a total tire fire this season, because there's only so much you can blame a guy who averaged 30/8/6 on efficient shooting. Gobert takes the last spot in relatively close call over Bam Adebayo and Jarrett Allen.

Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Again, a really difficult award to decide. Joker and Embiid battled in an epic joust across the season's second half, with Giannis demanding inclusion in the discussion down the stretch.

And while Embiid and Freak had seasons that were nothing short of historic, Jokic, again, should stand alone on the MVP pedestal. 

The cliche argument for Jokic is also the most damning for everyone else: Basically every single catch-all advanced stat says he's the best player in the league. PER. Plus-Minus (both real and box). Win shares.VORP. RAPTOR. It doesn't matter where you look, Jokic's name tops the list. And while most metrics have inherent flaws and can present biases, when every single one of them points in the same direction, it's usually a sign. 

Jokic was a one-man army for a Nuggets squad that essentially was missing its second- and third-best players for the entire season. He dragged Denver's injury-riddled roster to competitive results night in and out, squeezing damn near 50 wins out of a team with no other 15+ ppg scorers, and raising his teammates' floors in ways even Embiid and Antetokounmpo couldn't claim.

Even on the most basic levels, Jokic's stats profile is just godly. 27/14/8 on .661 true shooting is absurdly efficient production, such that Jokic is going to set the single-season record for PER, besting Wilt Chamberlain's 1961-62 season when he averaged 244 points and 87 rebounds per game (Editor's Note: numbers possibly exaggerated).

And while many Jokic detractors point to his ostensible reputation as a leak on defense, the evidence they can pcall on is drying up. Jokic registered another season near the top of several key defensive metrics, including leading the NBA in both defensive win shares and DBPM while finishing Top 5 in defensive rating and sixth in DRPM. Joker was also tenth in the league in steals this season for good measure. I acknowledge that those numbers are kind to Jokic and he's not necessarily an All-Defensive candidate, but let's get over the fallacy that not being an elite rim protector makes him a bad defender. 

Another close call and painful choice, but Jokic feels like the right call here. And in a season that will hopefully be defined by another wide-open title chase, it's fitting to have the MVP rest fairly uncertain.

Regards to: Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Banter's 2021 NBA Awards

So, this season existed. 

Yeah, it was rushed. Yeah, it was a bit of shitshow at times. Yeah, this was probably a really dumb year to introduce the modified play-in round. 

But this season existed. And to have done it on the turnaround that the NBA and its players did is something fairly remarkable. 

While all involved deserve a serious kudos – especially the Toronto Raptors, who were forced to effectively spend the entire season on the road – we're here today to honor those who truly stood out. 

Nobody could've blamed a player for having an off year. Between the ongoing pandemic, truncated offseason, and mangled schedule, there existed every plausible reason for someone's head, body, or both to not fully be in the game.

These guys brought it though, and so without further ado, let's hand out the Basketball Banter 2020-21 NBA Awards. Envelopes please...

All-Rookie First Team: LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Saddiq Bey, Immanuel Quickley

All-Rookie Second Team: Jae'Sean Tate, Desmond Bane, Isaiah Stewart, Facundo Campazzo, Cole Anthony

Rookie of the Year - LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets

This Rookie of the Year race brings up two important angles when figuring these awards out. 

The first – and this is of particular importance this year – is how much to dock a player for missed time. Is each game sidelined a greater portion of a shorter season, and thus a greater detriment? Or should we be more lenient on players who had to weather a condensed schedule on next-to-no turnaround under some very weird conditions?

The other is the intangible factor: How much did a player resonate on a level deeper than individual performance? 

LaMelo Ball has missed 21 games of his rookie campaign with a busted wrist, and while he began his leave with what seemed like a bulletproof ROY lead, Anthony Edwards made damn sure the voters at least had a decision on their hands, averaging 23.5 points post-All-Star and loudly raising his career arc to "looks like a superstar".

But Melo was a clear superstar from the get, and remains the superior all-around player after year one. His playmaking was somehow even better than advertised, his scoring more efficient than Edwards', his defense superb for a first-year point guard.

Other things equal, had Melo not been injured or Edwards done this all season, either would have won this award in a landslide, but as it is, the two are painfully close to choose between. 

In the end, it's back to those intangibles. The Hornets had an unprecedented buzz (sorry) about them this season; it was cool to be a Charlotte fan for the first time since Larry Johnson's Mrs. Doubtfire impersonation. And even in a season where Edwards served up several absolutely devastating facials and scoring outbursts, Ball was responsible for many more "wow" moments with his preternatural passing, all while galvanizing a team that massively overachieved in 2021.

Regards To: Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Saddiq Bey

Coach of the Year - Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks

Another extremely tough award to decide. The margins between Thibodeau and Suns coach Monty Williams are razor-thin.

Both helped rescue franchises from epochs-long droughts of awfulness. Both presided over what will be roughly 8-spot improvements in the conference standings. Both got levels out of their players we didn't know existed, and kept their teams executing with startling consistency.

But several things – back to those intangibles again – give Thibodeau an edge in my books: 

The Suns were already showing signs of being good. Granted, nobody gave them credit as legitimate title contenders before the season, but they were fairly clearly a team on the rise, one accelerated by Chris Paul's acquisition (more on that in a minute). Meanwhile, the Knicks were still supposed to be utter dog shit, entering this season with the league's third-lowest projected win total (more on that in a minute, too).

Paul's arrival in Phoenix gave Williams the closest thing to a player-coach that exists in today's NBA (one whom Monty had already coached, at that) to help permeate the good word to a young team. Paul has arguably the highest basketball IQ in the entire league, housed by a sage veteran with an iron work ethic and OCD-like perfection impulse, who leads by example and has left an indelibly positive imprint on every team he's ever played for. Thibodeau had...Taj Gibson? 

Furthermore, Thibodeau did far more than just turn a bad team around this year. He thwarted almost two full decades of the most thorough organizational incompetence in NBA history. He turned the Knicks from a pariah no star player would touch in the league's biggest market, to a relevant, competitive, proud franchise. In one season. 

If you look at the trajectory of both teams, Thibs should definitely get more of the blame for his squad's dramatic improvement, in a situation that blossomed far less organically. With a race this tight, that means all the difference. 

Regards To: Monty Williams, Quin Snyder, Steve Nash

Sixth Man of the Year - Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz

Another nail-biter, this time between two teammates. What drama! 

Clarkson appeared to have this in the bag mid-season, leading bench players in scoring by a huge margin for a team that, at the time, was capturing all the headlines with one of the most dominant romps in recent NBA history. 

But gradually, a dude from his own locker room started to steal all the momentum, and frankly, I can totally understand why. 

Ingles' game is understated. He looks like more like your kid's Scouts leader than an NBA player, and is possibly the least-flashy player in the league. But god dammit is he ever effective. 

Clarkson scores more, but Ingles is the more well-rounded offensive player. Jingles is a master of subtleties, who executes about as efficiently as any player in the league. He was tenth among all non-PGs in assist-turnover ratio this year, and put up one of the best-shooting seasons in NBA history. 

Ingles is also the superior defender of the two, filling more roles on a Jazz squad that has weathered long absences to both its starting guards. Ingles has thus started 28 of his 65 games, which, while somewhat against the spirit of him being a "sixth man", still leaves him eligible here, and this year of all years, fits the season's narrative all too conveniently. 

Regards To:  Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Brunson, Derrick Rose

Most Improved Player - Julius Randle, New York Knicks

Okay, now after a few photo-finishes, here's one of three awards that wasn't even close. 

Prior to this season, Randle was little more than a driftwood battering ram; a black hole who could outmuscle just about anyone to get to the rack or grab a rebound. But questions about his ability to do other things and contribute to a winning basketball team lingered. 

Well, apparently Randle used the downtime wisely while the Knicks sat the bubble out. 

He came back this season like Rachael Leigh Cook in the second act of She's All That. NBA fans could hardly recognize this dude who was suddenly filling multiple roles – for a Knicks squad that was winning for the first time in eons – on both sides of ball.

Randle took several vital upgrades and incorporated them into his skill set seamlessly. He went from an abhorrent 3-point shooter to an elite one (.277 last year to .415), on a higher volume (3.6 to 5.4), while now actually being defended that far out. In doing so, he became one of the NBA's most dangerous all-around scorers, dropping 24 ppg despite playing on a defense-first squad that sauntered at the NBA's slowest pace.

His assist rate almost doubled, while his turnover rate actually decreased. It was a stunning transformation for a player who had a virtually 1-to-1 assist-turnover ratio a year ago, and shown few glimpses of upside as a playmaker. Randle was fifth among big men in assists per game this year; two of the guys ahead of him (Nikola Jokic and Draymond Green) are arguably the best-passing big men ever, and a third (Domantas Sabonis) is the offspring of the next-likeliest contender to that throne.

And he fucking busted his ass on defense like never before, becoming both an immovable stone in the post and a strong switch/closeout threat on the perimeter. As of May 12, he sits 11th in D-rating and second in D-win shares; no one can be faulted for giving him All-Defense consideration.

Randle's transformation was emblematic of – and a serious catalyst for – the Knicks' amazing surprise season. Spoiler alert: it's not the only Banter hardware he's taking home. 

Regards To: Jerami Grant, Christian Wood, Michael Porter Jr.

All-Defense First Team: G-Ben Simmons, G-Marcus Smart, F-Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-Bam Adebayo, C-Rudy Gobert

All-Defense Second Team: G-Jrue Holiday, G-Mikal Bridges, F-Draymond Green, F-Jimmy Butler, C-Joel Embiid

Defensive Player of the Year - Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz

Centers are, fundamentally, the backbone of an NBA defense — the foundation within which all other players are rooted. 

Literally the last line of resistance, a center must protect the hoop – the thing their team is trying to keep the ball out of – from not only his own man, but anyone who enters his realm. The center is also usually all-seeing behind the action, able to call out screens, read movements, and shift into help positions.

As such, a good defensive center is critical, and this award's history reflects as much. Since 1990-91, 22 of the 30 Defensive Player of the Year winners have been centers, and only three winners – Kawhi Leonard, Ron Artest and Gary Payton – wouldn't be considered small-ball centers by today's standards. 

Gobert will add to that tally when he inevitably wins his third DPOY in a few weeks. He once again propelled the Jazz to the NBA's best defense, acting as a roaming deterrent to anyone thinking of coming near the basket. Despite fewer players being willing to test him, the Stifle Tower still ranked fourth in block rate, while gobbling up more defensive rebounds than anyone in the league. 

Rudy dominated defensive metrics this year, pulling off the triple crown of leading the NBA in D-win shares, D-rating, and DRPM, the latter of which by an absolutely silly margin.

Much respect to Ben Simmons for lending incredible credence to the over-used "guards all five positions" attribute, but what Gobert did this season was undeniable.

Regards To: Ben Simmons, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo

All-NBA First Team: G-Stephen Curry, G-Luka Doncic, F-Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-Kawhi Leonard, C-Nikola Jokic

All-NBA Second Team: G-Chris Paul, G-Damian Lillard, F-Julius Randle, F-LeBron James, C-Joel Embiid

All-NBA Third Team: G-James Harden, G-Devin Booker, F-Paul George, F-Jimmy Butler, C-Rudy Gobert

Most Valuable Player - Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets 

In the end, this was a landslide.

The sad part is that injuries – an unfortunately common theme in this season's overall narrative – robbed us of what was going to be a truly special MVP race, with LeBron James and Joel Embiid both looking like imposing contenders. Even James Harden tossed his name in the ring after the most un-MVP like start to his season (and resulting trade destination) imaginable. 

But as those dudes all succumbed to a weird season, Jokic steadily drove the Nuggets up the West standings as the team around him rounded into form. Despite the annual ambiguity about the MVP award's context, he served so many tangible definitions of value this season. 

Jokic used to show up to camp lethargic every season, and would take a month or so to play himself into condition. This year, he arrived in the best shape of his life, dropped a 29-point triple double in the season opener, and never looked back. 

Joker kept Denver afloat through early season inconsistency when they, like several other deep bubble runners, lagged out of the gate. He kept them afloat further (assisted by Michael Porter Jr.'s leap) when Jamal Murray tore his ACL at the most horrible time (not that there's ever a good time to tear your ACL). 

The flashy Serb did so by delivering one of the most impactful statistical seasons in NBA history. 

26.5 points on a pristine .647 TS%, 10.8 rebounds and 8.4 assists is the stuff of legend. He swept the league-best mark in basically every major advanced metric, often leading by margins that weren't close at all. 

He even, by some metrics (4th in D-win shares and 6th in DBPM), was among this season's best players on defense. And while suggesting that Jokic is anywhere close to a Top-10 defender is a gross over-appraisal, his conditioning and improved awareness have made him far less of a liability on that end. 

In an era of basketball increasingly defined by “small ball” and “spacing”, Jokic and Embiid are defiantly reminding the league that centers are still relevant, waging a resistance against a major movement with their dominance. 

And, as of writing, Jokic has also played in every single game for Denver this year, which juxtaposed against the injured outcomes of most other contenders, fair or not, makes his impact that much more remarkable. 

In a season defined by unpredictability and absences, he was a consistently unstoppable franchise rock who had by far the best campaign of anyone in the NBA.

Regards To: Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo

NBA Bubble Power Rankings Part II: The Middle Class

We're back at it with Part II of the NBA Bubble Power Rankings, counting down - from worst to first - the players, teams and other things that made the bubble special.

Today we're taking a look at the bubble's Middle Class. We'll start with those that left the bubble with mixed results, and span all the way to the fringe of the Top 100 (or the top 10 percent).

If you missed Part I: The Losers, you can check it out here. Otherwise, let's pick up where we left off...

499. Washington Wizards

I straight-up completely forgot that they were even in Orlando, so they couldn't have done anything overly embarrassing. Call it a push.

485. Khris Middleton

His 36/8/8 in a must-win Game 4 vs. Miami (largely sans Giannis) quieted some of the haters who think Freak needs a better second fiddle. Ultimately, nobody associated with the Bucks really came out of this a winner.

466. Kendrick Perkins

Perkins is quickly becoming one of the NBA's most insufferable talking heads, his half-baked hot takes served with an extra zip of arrogance and entitlement as a former player and ostensible clout-haver.

But he's also one of the most inescapable sports personalities on the internet, and got himself a Sports Illustrated cover feature, so he's doing at least something right.

451. Markieff Morris

Threw quite possibly the worst pass in NBA Finals history, but had the extreme fortune of doing so seconds after viral pariah Danny Green missed a wide-open three for the NBA championship, thus waltzing away mostly-unscathed.

440. Utah Jazz

Were spirited in defeat, especially Donovan Mitchell, who leveled up in a huge way these playoffs. But Utah fancied itself a contender coming into this season, and got bounced in the first round after choking away a 3-1 lead. Bojan Bogdanovic's injury aside, the result was sub-expectation. 

432. Fred VanVleet

426. Kelly Olynyk

419. Dennis Schroder

413. Orlando Magic

Saddled with injuries, they were more competitive than anyone expected in their opening-round loss to Milwaukee. But one of those injuries - Jonathan Isaac's second major left knee tear this calendar year - could alter the course of their franchise. 

402. Kristaps Porzingis

Speaking of untimely bum knees, Kristaps' absence had many questioning if the Clippers' upset might not have otherwise happened a round earlier. But the frequency of Zinger's leg injuries has to start becoming a red flag for a running mate to the generational Luka Doncic.

388. Daryl Morey

On one end, his team was sent packing earlier than they'd set out to, for like the sixth straight year. On the other, neither that reality nor the almost-half-billion he lost the NBA a year ago have cost him his job yet. 

379. Gordon Hayward

In one of the bubble's most bittersweet subplots, Hayward pushed himself back to playing shape after yet another injury, but had to miss the birth of his son to do so. 

362. Brian Anderson

He's no Marv Albert, but Anderson did well for himself to not lose his mind mid-broadcast on Reggie Miller and/or Chris Webber after having to repeatedly hang out with them together for hours on end. 

355. Bol Bol

346. Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi gets a bit of a pass here vs. the rest of the Clippers' roster. After all, he did just average 28/9/5/2+ for their playoff run, and at several times looked to be re-asserting himself as the very best player in the league. Unlike many of his teammates, he also kept his mouth shut for most of the season (as Kawhi does), dodging much of the backlash when they imploded. 

But the implosion is still a reality. As is the fact that the team Kawhi left behind also lost in a painfully ironic second-round Game 7, imploring many, probably Leonard himself, to wonder what might've been if he'd just stayed put. 

308. James Harden

Harden had a fairly neutral bubble. He delivered the summer's first signature game - a 49/9/8/3/3 masterpiece on 70% shooting in an OT win over Dallas on opening night, eventually being named to the All-Bubble First Team. He did more or less what was expected of him: Score 30/game, lose in the second round, everything in its place.

Houston faces a serious organizational crossroads this offseason, but Harden has little to fear. Their main goal will be to better maximize his talents, although Russell Westbrook's contract is a massive shackle.

Bonus points for, in a rare twist, delivering one of the postseason's best plays on a defensive effort.

298. Jae Crowder's shooting

It was really good. And then it really wasn't. 

277. Michael Porter Jr.

Burst onto the scene as a multi-tool scorer who has altered Denver's ceiling and possibly given them some tantalizing trade bait.

But he's also complete trash on D, and outed himself as an anti-vaxxer who thinks COVID is a government control mechanism, taking some of the shine off his breakthrough.

243. Nikola Jokic

Somewhat similar to his teammate Porter, Jokic was straight-up dominant for stretches of Denver's captivating playoff run, but his limitations on D are becoming a serious obstacle. Jokic is the worst rim protector physically possible for a player of his size, and is increasingly hunted in the pick-and-roll.

Jokic's defensive ineptitude is of far graver concern since he's the franchise player (ie definitely not being traded), spends more time on the court, and can be plausibly hidden against fewer opponents. 

But overall, these playoffs were a definite win for him, and Denver has plenty of maneuverability to help plug their defensive holes.

221. Toronto Raptors

It sucks how the Raptors went out. Pascal Siakam shrunk like he was visiting Anatomy Park. Marc Gasol mummified. The bad end of three-point variance struck Toronto in the worst way, at the worst time.

Still, their title defense, after losing Kawhi, was nothing short of remarkable. They were able to milk a few extra months as champs, and made Boston fight tooth-and-nail to finally dethrone them in the final minute of a Game 7.

202. OG Anunoby

201. Alex Caruso

200. Jaylen Brown

187. Boston Celtics

Nobody can really blame them for losing to the Heat. They played very well throughout the bubble (largely without Gordon Hayward), gutted out an impressive W over the reigning champs, and were still the youngest team in the playoffs.

They have upside and assets to spare as they continue their ascent, with Jayson Tatum now looking like a bonafide superstar.

176. Gary Trent Jr.

175. Jusuf Nurkic

174. Wenyen Gabriel

161. Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs were a playoff sleeper all season. Sporting a historic offense and a sneaky-deep rotation, Dallas was seen as a very viable upset candidate, even before COVID threw the season in a blender.

They came damn close, largely without Porzingis and with Luka Doncic playing on one foot. Even in defeat they made a statement, and have arguably the brightest future of any NBA franchise. 

150. Robert Covington

149. Caris LeVert

148. Mikal Bridges

144. Portland Trail Blazers

They won the West's 8th seed, which must have felt like its own mini-championship after the all-out melee the NBA contrived. The Blazers unearthed found money in several places (Carmelo Anthony, Gary Trent Jr, Wenyen Gabriel), and played their hearts out. 

But ultimately, the Blazers are largely still a one-way team with a fairly low ceiling. They've run it back for a half-decade as non-contenders, and look to be a major roster shift away from a breakthrough.

But for one brief moment, they took the NBA by storm. 

125. Serge Ibaka

124. Jeff Green

123. Jerami Grant

112. Jayson Tatum

Ultimately, the Celtics (and probably the NBA) would have loved to renew their storied rivalry with the Lakers in the Finals. If Tatum has his way, they won't be held back much longer.

At 22 years old, Tatum averaged 25/10/5 with a steal & block apiece, already solidifying himself in the NBA's upper echelon of stars. An upset in the highest-variance playoff setting ever (even amid Tatum's slow starts in the ECF) can only be a slight demerit against him. 

102. Dwight Howard

Dwight has been one of the most-scorned NBA players over the course of his 15-year career. Despite his Hall-of-Fame talent, pretty much everything else about him has made him incongruent to winning basketball.

After forcing his way out of Orlando in the most awkward and pretentious way possible, Howard bounced around the NBA for the better part of the last decade, always finding some way to ostracize himself. 

His signing by the Lakers was a gesture of mutual desperation, and many felt it was doomed for disaster with LeBron's championship aspirations and the lack of any evidence that Dwight could conform and behave. 

Well, he did. Howard was one of the NBA's best bench big men all year. By the Finals, he was starting. And now, after a highly turbulent career was written off by virtually everyone, he's an NBA champion.

Stay tuned for the Best of the Bubble, dropping soon...

NBA Bubble Power Rankings Part I: The Losers

Well. That was a journey. 

The NBA pulled off a miraculous feat of planning, regulation and social construction, stuffing most of the league into a self-contained bubble, in Florida of all places. 

While the United States went to complete and utter shit all around them, the bubble stayed strong, finishing the season and giving us closure to the weirdest NBA campaign ever.

Trying to recap the past few months in a brief, clean little piece is pretty damn difficult. We've seen so much - both in the NBA bubble and the calamity of the outside world - that a concise summary hardly does it justice. Compound that with the general disorienting haziness that 2020 has shrouded us all in, and it becomes near-impossible.

Instead, I'm delving into a complete breakdown of the bubble's key entities with the NBA Bubble Power Rankings. The higher the number, the worse the ranking. 

We'll be doing this in three parts: The Losers, The Middle Class, and the Best of the Bubble. As with many things in life, you've gotta get the bad out of the way before enjoying the good:

Last Place: Racist cops

We need to start here. 

The issue of justice and social equality for people of color was constant throughout the NBA's rebirthed season. 

From jersey messages, to billboards and broadcast graphics, ads, interviews, shoes, masks, and literally anywhere physically possible to get the message across.

After Kenosha, Wis. police shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in front of his children, the players collectively decided they'd had enough of this shit. Beginning with Kenosha neighbors the Milwaukee Bucks, they staged a strike that would permeate to other leagues, effectively putting Western Hemisphere sports on hold for a weekend. 

The result was a pledged commitment to the movement - not just spreading the message, but ensuring action - from the NBA. Most notably, the league will convert team-owned arenas to voting sites for the upcoming election, increasing both capacity and accessibility in major cities.

What the players accomplished was historic. In a country disproportionately run by rich white people, they made rich white people care about their plight and align in fighting it.

And the league continued to place itself at the forefront of this year's ongoing battle against racial injustice. The NBA was by far the "wokest" of the pro sports cohorts, correctly identifying with the young men (the majority of whom are POC) who make their league what it is. 

Unfortunately, there's both anecdotal and empirical evidence suggesting their plea for humanity has - among several other factors - helped contribute to plummeting TV ratings. It's tragic that many still tune out what's often perceived as a "political agenda" (it's not). But it's beyond admirable that the NBA is still willing to fight the good fight. 

Basketball is growing enough internationally to weather whatever storm the NBA faces from racist "fans" in North America. And the impact of what they helped ignite this summer could be, quite literally, revolutionary.

Second-Last Place: The scum that sent death threats to Danny Green

993. Sports leagues that didn't bubble

982. Mike Budenholzer/Milwaukee Bucks

The extent to which Budenholzer coached the Bucks out of their series with the Heat cannot be overstated. 

He foolishly capped his best players' minutes and refused to make any sort of adjustments to his rotation or defensive scheme. Worse yet, he completely neutered Giannis Antetokounmpo, keeping him off Jimmy Butler Duty, and glued to the bench for the most important stretch of Milwaukee's season (the start of Miami's Game 3 comeback).

As a result, the Bucks are facing DEFCON 1 with an aging core, one year left on Giannis' contract, and back-to-back playoff collapses to match his back-to-back MVPs. Fear for the Deer is more like it. 

957. Paul George

The postseason couldn't have gone much worse for "Playoff P", who averaged his fewest playoff ppg since 2013 and shot a horrid .398 from the field. 

As a result, George was the main Haterade recipient after the Clippers' premature meltdown, and had the internet conjuring up every possible slanderous derivative of his nickname. 

In perhaps a personal low point, Seth Curry - who has a not-so-congenial connection to PG - called him a "bitch ass" on international television. 

936. Newsday's Greg Logan

For thinking that Andre Drummond was the NBA's best defender this year. 

919. Danuel House Jr.

Got kicked out of the bubble after his booty call was busted, which was dumb, clumsy, and selfish all in one swoop.

913. Steph Curry's cornrows

906. Game 7 Steve Ballmer

903. Pascal Siakam

Spicy P was pretty damn mild as he mostly disappeared from Toronto's second-round exit. Fans and pundits alike questioned his status as a franchise player, and he drew many unflattering comparisons to ghosts of Raptors playoffs past. 

898. Marcus Morris

Between his cheap-shot on Luka Doncic's ankle, and seemingly igniting the Nuggets' comeback with his Paul Millsap beef, Morris was more of a pro wrestling heel than a basketball player the past few months.

877. The Reggie Miller-Chris Webber tandem

Miller and Webber have long been two of the NBA's most-derided TV emcees. Webber's a try-hard who comes off corny as hell. Miller's mere aura, much like as a player, is an irritant. Both of their commentaries are shallow, misguided, and often contradictory. 

Due to the bubble's restricted media crews, they spent more time than usual in the same booth and, god, was it ever bad.

849. Los Angeles Clippers

Much like the Bucks, suffered a humiliating second-round defeat. Much unlike the Bucks:

• lost after being up 3-1
• weren't beaten by the eventual Conference Champ
• coasted through the regular season with nonchalance and arrogance befitting a much more accomplished team

The Clippers are a bit higher than the Bucks here because they aren't in quite as desperate a situation, and have already fired their overrated coach (formerly another similarity). But they basically mortgaged their future for this core, and did not do so for second-round losses. 

826. Philadelphia 76ers

Whatever The Process became, it's pretty fucking tough to trust it at this point. The Sixers remain the NBA's most dysfunctional talented team, facing an identity crisis at seemingly every turn. 

They were unceremoniously swept out of the first round. Then Joel Embiid began passive-aggressively subtweeting the organization throughout the Heat's playoff run.

The Sixers now have to look at a serious shakeup in an offseason with no salary cap growth and a highly unpredictable market, while they try and convince some poor soul to pay a 36-year-old Al Horford $26.5 million in 2023 (good luck).

808. Charles Barkley's "GUAR-AN-TEE!"s

802. Replay review length/intervals

798. Coach's challenge selection

780. Danny Green

I'm not entirely sure what Danny Green's done to piss off Lakers fans, but holy shit do they ever hate him.

His inconsistency hardly stood out among L.A.'s supporting cast this year. But there was a fresh round of stones thrown at Green with every missed three, culminating in his now-immortal Game 5 brick. 

729. Houston Rockets 

Apparently forgetting that Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis play for Western Conference contenders, Houston went all-in on small ball, producing another painfully predictable second-round loss. 

Their eradication of every center on their roster came off almost as a trade-deadline gimmick; a fit of desperation from the depths of Daryl Morey's analytics chamber.

In the end, Houston played themselves yet again, having now lost the ideal coach for such a system. They're back at the drawing board without a plan.

700. Nate McMillan/Indiana Pacers

Pacers got swept. Nate got fired. Vic Oladipo wants out. Not great. 

682. Scott Foster

Deployed much like Lieutenant Marimow in "The Wire", Foster, the NBA's resident killjoy referee, became a B-plot villain, drawing ever-increased ire from fans and being name-dropped by Chris Paul in an emotional post-elimination interview. 

667. Russell Westbrook

659. Kendrick Nunn

648. Dillon Brooks' shot selection

643. Zion Williamson

Zion was largely absent from what was supposed to be the Pelicans' triumphant ascent to the postseason. Williamson barely averaged twenty minutes, missing three of the eight seeding games entirely. New Orleans flamed out, not even a factor in the ridiculous four-way final day clusterfuck for the West's 8th and 9th seeds.

It's still too early to call Zion an injury liability, but his first season was as worrying as it was tantalizing. A body that size cannot normally do the things he does; the impact of all that weight and force is considerable.

618. Paul Pierce

While not as irritating as Miller and Webber, Pierce is still a definite minus to most broadcasts. His takes are like hour-old McDonald's french fries; cold, too salty, and tough to digest.

586. San Antonio Spurs

Missed the playoffs for the first time since "Anaconda" was the #1 movie at the box office. They're in clear rebuild mode, and don't exactly have an enviable long-term outlook. 

552. Disney World's room service 

538. The "socially distanced bench" concept

520. Jayson Tatum's stiff-arms

Tatum is a supremely-talented basketball player, capable of torching pretty much any defender. Unfortunately, when driving to hoop, he still feels the need to throw more stiff-arms than a Slipknot mosh pit, clearing out defenders as they move with him.

This greasy tendency cost the Celtics on numerous key possessions, now that the refs have caught on. Tatum's got a deep bag of tricks, and he'll need to find more subtle ways of creating space for himself.

514. Twitter over-reactions to flopping

509. Jeff Van Gundy's rants about flopping

506. Actual flopping

501. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Won the MVP. Had to accept it from Greece.

Stay tuned for Part II later this week...

Banter's 2020 NBA Awards

So, clearly this isn't how we expected the season to go.

2019-20 was perhaps the most bittersweet several months in NBA history. A season flooded with compelling storylines and newfound competitive parity was derailed by the tragic passings of two straight-up legends in David Stern and Kobe Bryant, before ultimately being stranded in purgatory by COVID-19.

While the season remains on pause and the league scrambles to cobble a contingency plan for this totally unprecedented situation, us fans are left to wait under an anxious blanket of uncertainty.

If this season is in fact ever completed - which given the USA's alarming response to the pandemic seems increasingly less likely - it will be drastically curtailed. Everything from a shortened offseason to a play-in tournament and 3-game series are being tabled for a playoff format. As a wise man once said; "desperate times call for desperate measures".

In the meantime, there remains the not-so-trivial subject of the NBA's regular season awards, and what the hell to do about those. Given the anticipated COVID timelines (regardless of Trump's blindly optimistic projections), it seems pretty safe to assume that the regular season, as we know it, is over.

With that being the case, and because frankly I'm pretty bored without any basketball to watch, now seems like a good time to roll out Banter's picks for the 2020 NBA Awards. So without further ado, envelopes please...

ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS

First Team: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Kendrick Nunn, Brandon Clarke, Tyler Herro

Second Team: RJ Barrett, Coby White, Eric Paschall, De'Andre Hunter, Terence Davis 


ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JA MORANT, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
There's sure to be a growing narrative around message board conspiracy theorists that Corona screwed Zion Williamson; that if the regular season had finished, he would've gained enough momentum - possibly dragging the Pelicans into the playoffs - to topple Morant's claim.

It's an unfortunate circumstance. Had Zion played a full season, he probably would have won Rookie of the Year, what with his endless highlights, over-performing team, and transcendent, ahead-of-his-years play.

But, in reality, while Zion accomplished those feats for six weeks, Morant did all the same things from Day One. He galvanized a team that was universally considered lottery fodder, sparking the NBA's biggest surprise, best feel-good story, and a League Pass MVT contender.

Morant led all rookies in points and assists by a mile; showcasing an offensive game that's as dynamic and lethal as it is flashy. He gets into the paint at will, is already an elite finisher, and has both the vision and audacity to hit open men anywhere. While he wasn't an amazing defender (rookie PGs seldom are), he showed the tenacity and awareness that will form a solid foundation on D.

Only bolstering Ja's argument is his team's narrative; the Grizzlies leapfrogging to playoff contenders, with Morant as their unquestioned leader. While team success typically doesn't define an ROY season, it certainly enhances a contender's performance when he's the main catalyst.

Morant comfortably cleared averages of 17 points and 6.5 assists on 45% shooting. These may not seem like eye-popping numbers, until you isolate them and realize that Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson are the only other rookies ever to do so.

Regards To: Zion Williamson, Kendrick Nunn, Brandon Clarke

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: MONTREZL HARRELL, LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
This may seem unoriginal given that I'm running back last year's winner, but to hell with voter fatigue, Trez was equally deserving this season.

Harrell's season was a heightened version of last year, in which he (as mentioned) won Banter's 6MOY award, and finished third in the actual voting. 2019-20 saw him boost his scoring and rebounding averages (in virtually the same amount of playing time), only now flanked by two All-NBA players, who surely cannibalized points and rebounds organically.

Trez's advanced stats and efficiency indicators are all startlingly similar to his 2018-19 marks. Some slight fluctuations are natural with variance, but he was essentially the same player, only on a much improved team. It was the same smart, brutally effective hustle from Harrell, night in and out.

That he maintained those production levels adds credence to his Sixth Man candidacy; able to make the same contributions to a contender as a team overachieving as an 8-seed. Think of it like a kid skipping a grade and still getting the same marks, or a boxer fighting up a weight class and maintaining his record. 

He finished third in bench scoring, third in FG%, fifth in rebounds, and led all bench players in PER with a 23.17 mark that ranked 20th league-wide. Another close call for Clippers teammates, but Trez deserves the nod this year.

Regards To: Dennis Schroder, Lou Williams, Derrick Rose 


MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: LUKA DONCIC, DALLAS MAVERICKS

There seems to be an annual furor about the context of this award and what exactly it means to have "improved". There are a ton of interpretations, but many (myself included) contend that a player making "The Leap" - clearly evolving into a bonafide star - is the most impressive argument an MIP candidate can make.


There were no shortage of Leaps around the NBA this year, but the most impressive came from Doncic.

Skeptics might infer that Luka was bound for greatness, and that this type of progress from him was expected, if not preordained. To me, it's a weak rebuttal.

Yes, Doncic seemed destined for greatness after 2018's third-overall pick put on a historic rookie campaign that saw him drop the rarefied 20/5/5 line reserved for Hall-of-Fame talent (or Tyreke Evans). But for him to be this good, this soon, is entirely unexpected and unprecedented.

His basic popcorn stats shot up from 21.2/7.8/6 to 28.7/9.3/8.7, rounding out arguably the league's most robust basic line. His eFG% rose almost 10% to .531, despite him shouldering an increased load on offense (usage rate up 21%), and being one of the league's most-targeted players by opposing defenses. Through all this, his turnover rate decreased slightly, while all of his major advanced metrics rose noticeably on both sides of the ball.

Largely as a result of Doncic's precocious stardom, Dallas over-performed for much of the season. Expected to scrap for the final playoff spots, the Mavs were postseason locks by Christmas, sporting (*double-checks stat sheet*) the best team offensive rating in NBA history.

Doncic, already a star by most definitions, confidently entered the NBA's pantheon this season. He's going to be an All-NBA first-teamer, and will likely place top-5 in MVP voting. To be accomplishing this at 21 years of age - regardless of pedigree - is simply amazing.

We all knew Luka was going to be good, but this type of career arc is indicative of an all-time talent. As the league's burgeoning global popularity prepares for its post-LeBron era, it's safe to assume Doncic is more than capable of leading the new school.

Regards To: Bam Adebayo, Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum 

ALL-DEFENSE TEAMS

First Team: G-Patrick Beverley, G-Ben Simmons, F-Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-Anthony Davis, C-Rudy Gobert

Second Team: G-Eric Bledsoe, G-Marcus Smart, F-OG Anunoby, F-Bam Adebayo, C-Brook Lopez


DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, MILWAUKEE BUCKS
All jokes aside about reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert having "shut down the entire league";

Giannis put together an absolute juggernaut defensive season. Statistically speaking, it was very similar to last year, but the Jazz's inconsistency and Milwaukee's defensive dominance have put the spotlight where it should be.

Basically every metric points to Giannis being the NBA's best defender. He led the league in D-rating, D-win shares and DBPM this year. In doing so, he led Milwaukee to within a hair of being (statistically speaking) the best defense in league history.

Giannis is also beyond a doubt the most versatile defender in today's game, and arguably ever. He's able to switch seamlessly between assignments; a prototype for a league trending towards position-less ball. He can smother any player, anywhere on the court, acing the eye test in an unprecedented way.

The only even potential knock on Antetokounmpo's case for DPOY is that his steal and block %s are down slightly from last year. And it's really tough to count that against him when he still averaged one of each, and led all qualifying players in opponent FG% at the rim.

Gobert may have been the poster boy for the COVID outbreak, but Giannis has been shutting the league down since November.

Regards To: Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons


COACH OF THE YEAR: NICK NURSE, TORONTO RAPTORS
As usual, the Coach of the Year race was a melee this year, with at least five or six bench bosses meriting consideration for an abstract and very subjective award. But in the end, the trophy should go to Nurse, and it's not particularly close.

My basic logic for this award usually comes down to three questions:

- Who did the most with the least?
- Who overcame the most adversity? and,
- Which successful team owes the most to coaching?

In the context of this season, Nurse has to be at or near the top of all three of those criteria. Nobody could have blamed the Raptors for sliding down the standings after losing playoff demigod Kawhi Leonard in free agency. But instead, Nurse piloted them to a better winning percentage than last season (albeit one in which Leonard load-managed his way to 22 DNPs).

What makes that pace even more astonishing are all the potholes along the way. Toronto has been perpetually-injured this season, with, literally, every member of their rotation shuffling in-and-out of the lineup on a seemingly nightly basis.

All of this would submarine just about any team's season. Per Sportsnet via ManGamesLost, the Raptors led the NBA in win shares lost to injury. Obviously this depleted Toronto's talent pool, and gave them fewer options in terms of lineup diversity.

It also crushed any sense of continuity on the roster, as players spun in and out of floor-mates like a square dance at the Legion. Nurse was forced to not only mix-and-match new rotations weekly, but trust some of his younger and unproven players in key roles.

Things worked almost flawlessly. OG Anunoby and Norman Powell had career years. Terence Davis stood out among several out-of-nowhere rookies. Chris Boucher was very encouraging in his rotational debut. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson became serviceable again. Matt Thomas provided several relevant stints.

And the leaps made by already-established Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam have solidified the core around which the Raptors can build their future.

All that speaks to the amazing developmental culture that Nurse and his staff have instilled, yet another reason why he's the clear winner this season. One can only hope that a fully-healthy Raptors roster will eventually get the chance to defend their crown.

Regards To: Billy Donovan, Taylor Jenkins, Mike Budenholzer

ALL-NBA TEAMS

First Team: G-Luka Doncic, G-James Harden, F-Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-LeBron James, C-Nikola Jokic

Second Team: G-Damian Lillard, G-Chris Paul, F-Kawhi Leonard, F-Anthony Davis, C-Bam Adebayo

Third Team: G-Russell Westbrook, G-Ben Simmons, F-Jayson Tatum, F-Pascal Siakam, C-Joel Embiid


MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
Yes, I'm giving Giannis the MVP/DPOY double-dip for the second year in a row. Not because I'm lazy or fanboying him, but because he's simply been that good.

Much respect to what LeBron James is somehow still doing in Year 17 against every notion of athletic decline that we hold. If there were a "Still Got It" award, he would sweep. But suggesting that he was better than Antetokounmpo over the course of this season is asinine.

Let's start with basic stats: Giannis put up a ridiculous line of 29.6/13.7/5.8 this year, adding one block and steal each for good measure. In today's popular (but flawed) context of comparing players' stat lines across eras, Giannis is singular. He's the only player in NBA history to ever do those numbers.

His advanced stats paint an equally-dominant picture: Giannis led the league in usage %, BPM, Defensive Rating and Win Shares per 48, finishing top-3 in a litany of other metrics. He tied for the fifth-best all-time PER, behind a single season from LeBron (08-09), and entries from Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

It's nothing short of historic. Giannis has a very realistic shot at joining Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players ever to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. Compound that with back-to-back MVPs at age 25, and Giannis is putting together a legacy resume that - championships pending - projects him among the game's all-time greats (I'm talking the top 10-15 range) when all is said and done.

The Bucks' dominance this season is only another facet to Giannis' MVP case. Milwaukee was among the very best regular-season teams ever: a top-5 all-time net rating, and only Giannis' late injury derailing their pace to flirt with the hallowed 70-win mark.

Unfortunately, we may never know how that dominance would have translated to the playoffs. But either way, Giannis will add some more hardware to his trophy case after an all-time season.

Regards To: LeBron James, Luka Doncic, James Harden

Kobe Bryant Remembered

It goes without saying that this week has been difficult for any basketball fan with a beating heart. The passing of Kobe Bryant and the eight other victims of his helicopter's crash has rocked the NBA to its very core, leaving a widespread ripple of confusion, sadness, and emptiness. 

My editor at Beale Street Bears had pitched a roundtable to our writers where we would all share our favorite Kobe memories, as part of the site's tribute. Unfortunately, the piece didn't come to fruition, leaving my farewell in the purgatory of an internet drive. 

Instead, I decided to publish it here, a send-off to a man I'd written so much about over the years; idolized as a teenager, and carried something far beyond respect for as an adult.

So much has been said about Kobe over the past few days, hopefully this is on point:

We lost a straight-up legend on Sunday. Kobe Bryant's sudden and jarring death is an unparalleled tragedy; in the NBA and perhaps in all of sports. Its immense sadness is only amplified by those who were lost with Kobe, including his daughter Gianna. Several days later, it's still difficult to fully comprehend and accept. 

Kobe grew up before my eyes. An obsessed NBA fan since the 90's, I watched him evolve from precocious youngster to basketball demigod. From sunglasses on his forehead at his NBA Draft declaration, to 18-time All-Star, 5-time Champion, MVP, and unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer. 

From scrutinized, to villainized, to worshiped internationally.

Along the way, he provided us countless memories to remember him by fondly. He left his mark not only all over the NBA for two decades, but on the city of Los Angeles, the culture of basketball, hell the entire World. Of all the millions of kids who grew up trying to be "Like Mike", Kobe came the closest we might ever see. He inspired a new generation to be Like Kobe, attacking life with a #MambaMentality, no matter the situation. 

It's difficult to pick a favorite Kobe memory from his Greatest Hits archive. His catalog is so diverse; his feats so legendary. The 3-peat was the only of its kind we've seen this century. The 40-streak was captivating. 81 was spellbinding. The All-Star Co-MVP with Shaq was heartwarming. The Achilles free-throws were heroic. The last game was a perfect exit. And dozens of dunks, dimes and daggers are on instant-recall anytime a basketball fan hears his name. 

But for me, perhaps Kobe's most enduring memory is his most vindicating - the Lakers' 2009 NBA Championship.

Kobe had been through a pretty rough stretch the previous few seasons. He had weathered rape allegations, been basically blamed for breaking up the Lakers' dynasty, and was under fire for being a bad teammate, and unable to win without Shaq. He was definitely the most polarizing NBA player at the time, and probably one of the more hated athletes in pro sports. 

Slowly, Kobe underwent a very dramatic shift. It started with a new number, and evolved into a new attitude. He became a better teammate and leader; passing more, calling-out less, letting his indomitable work ethic lead by example rather than alienate his squad. The results showed, and the '09 title was the moment where Kobe Bryant officially rose above all the drama. The haters were silenced, and he was unquestionably on top of the basketball world. This time, without peer. 

Kobe doing his best to permeate that excellence to the next generation makes his loss that much more painful. That he was on his way to his daughter's game is a cruel irony for a man who walked, talked, ate, breathed, lived and ultimately died basketball. 

The game has been robbed of someone to whom it is deeply indebted. Multiple families have been torn apart in the most horrifying way possible. It's tough to make sense of. We lost an all-time athlete and competitor, who impacted and inspired millions. He now only can through memories, of which he blessed us with so many great ones.

Final Thoughts: The Toronto Raptors are NBA Champions

Read the second part of that headline again. Maybe a few more times after that, if you're like me and the reality hasn't entirely set in yet, even days later.

For the better part of two decades, the Toronto Raptors were the NBA's unwanted bastard stepchild. The lone Canadian franchise (RIP Vancouver) had difficulty both procuring and retaining top-level talent, while shooting themselves in the foot with myriad miscues, both on the court and in the front office.

Even when they finally became competitive, the Raptors plateaued as a regular-season tease; fodder for LeBron James to demoralize come playoff time. The notion of this franchise ever truly breaking through grew increasingly pipe-dreamy.

Last summer, after yet another postseason collapse, Trade Jedi Masai Ujiri had seen enough, pulling the plug on two franchise cornerstones. While fans revolted at the time, the results began showing immediately. The trade aged extremely well, suddenly, shockingly culminating in an NBA title. It happened almost too quickly to seem real.

As both an NBA fan and Canadian, there's a lot to decompress at the end of this ridiculous journey. This Raptors playoff run was an overwhelming swell of Northern patriotism and anxiety-inducing basketball. From four bounces vs the Sixers, to four straight wins vs the Bucks, and now denying this Warriors dynasty their fourth title, it was a simply thrilling ride.

As the entire country continues to come to grips with this serious rift in conventional thinking - the Raptors are NBA Champs -  here are, in abstract order of importance, five thoughts about the 2019 NBA Finals:

- Before we dive in, a special shoutout to  the entire country of Canada for their absolute outpouring of Raptors support. Firmly declaring ourselves as not just a hockey country, we embodied the 'We The North' credo with unbridled passion and enthusiasm. 

From Jurassic Park, to the multiple clones it spawned, bar-packing viewing parties, droves of social media support, Nav Bhatia, and everything in between, Canada ensured we made history in the loudest way possible. 

The first non-US NBA title is sure to be crucial piece of the NBA's global growth puzzle; a historical footnote with great rippling impact. As a lifelong basketball fan in a country that largely didn't care about basketball, this was a beautiful moment to witness. - 


5. You Have to be Happy For the Raptors
I mean, come on. You're not going to find a much more deserving unit, most of whom are earning their first ring.

Kyle Lowry has been Toronto's heart and soul since 2012; a pint-sized bulldog who slowly fought his way to stardom, spent years battling playoff demons, and had an absolutely dominant game to seal the championship.

Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet forced their way into NBA relevance from the obscurity of the G-League; underdogs evolved fully into alphas.

Marc Gasol was a consummate professional and teammate; a weathered playoff soldier who showed up, went to work, fit the system and - much like Rasheed Wallace on the 03-04 Pistons - raised this team's ceiling to the max.

Serge Ibaka witnessed first-hand the tragic demise of one of the NBA's greatest potential superteams. Him getting a ring seems karmically correct.

Patrick McCaw just three-peated.

Nick Nurse essentially won Dwane Casey a Coach of the Year award last season, and proved his chops by getting more creative with this roster than Casey was ever capable of. As a rookie, he out-coached Brett Brown and Mike Budenholzer, escaping the toughest Eastern Conference in years.

And Kawhi Leonard, whether he stays or goes, put on a simply all-time playoff performance.

Both The Ringer and ESPN's Zach Lowe have posited the extreme unlikeliness of this roster's origin story leading to a championship. In that, there also lies much validity that this team was shrewdly constructed, and played their hearts out, both this season and preceding it.

They've toppled the NBA's evil monolith, and no other would-be underdog could've made for a better foil.

4. Injuries are No Excuse
A lot of people already are - and will continue to for years - mark this title with an asterisk. They'll say that Golden State at full strength was clearly the better team; that Toronto "got lucky". They're right, but also very wrong.

Injuries are an inherent part of the sport; they can strike any team at any time. Yes, this particular timing was extremely unfortunate for Golden State, but it's impossible to fault Toronto for putting themselves in this position.

On several levels, I feel deeply for Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Both these guys were on the precipice of basketball immortality, and are now left at devastating crossroads. Durant pushed himself to perhaps the ultimate ceiling of a player's urgency to return, and paid the ultimate price. Thompson was simply playing out of his mind, and all but sealed his team's fate on a freak landing.

It's difficult however to feel much for the Warriors' organization. This roster took their first title in shockingly similar fashion; a 6-game win over Cleveland sans Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in 2015. Since then, they've had likely the best run of injury-free variance among any perennial playoff team, particularly when you factor in number of games played.

Would Golden State have beaten the Raptors at full strength? Very likely. But would they have beaten a Cleveland team whose 2nd and 3rd men weren't Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellevadova? Would they have even made the Finals in 2018 if Chris Paul hadn't missed games 6 and 7 of the WCF (both Warriors wins)?

After four years of good-to-impeccable luck in the health department, it's very tough - perhaps even hypocritical - for any pundit or Warriors fan to play the injury card here.

3. Masai Ujiri is a Fucking Boss
The man is pretty much unimpeachable. Not only does he have gargantuan cojones, but apex instinct and cunning. This title is the result of perhaps the most underrated five-year run by a GM in NBA history.

Masai built this roster's entire rotation from shrewd trades and draft steals. It's been famously trumpeted: Toronto's roster houses zero lottery picks; unheard of for a champion. He was forced to be relentlessly creative, while also managing assets cautiously. It's perhaps the perfect blueprint for a small-market team to follow.

Ujiri is a straight up predator who hunts vulnerable franchises (Spurs, Grizzlies, Knicks several times over), leveraging their sense of urgency to extract his will. He's always underpaid for better players (Leonard, Gasol, Ibaka), and gotten Toronto exactly what it needed.

Masai Ujiri's vision and ambition were major turning points in the Raptors' franchise arc. Upon his arrival, the team immediately began their ascent from NBA doormats to fringe contenders. It's fitting that his biggest gamble has now reaped them the greatest reward. Speaking of which:

2. It was a Fun Season with Kawhi Leonard
The decision to trade a franchise icon for a one-year rental on the NBA's most enigmatic superstar must not have been taken lightly. Especially with Kawhi coming off a season-long injury/standoff with the Spurs, this was one hell of a dice-roll.

But the Raptors hit straight sevens. They immediately surrounded him with complementary talent. They allowed him to routinely break offense and run his weirdly-efficient brand of iso-ball. They spent the entire season delicately considering his long-term health (Load Management FTW). They showed him a city (and country) of rabid fans who worship him and are basically proposing to let him exist as a human for free if he stays. And they won an NBA title.

Likewise, Kawhi gave Toronto his all. He played at a near-MVP level in the regular season. He said all the right things. He showed modicums of personality for the first time ever. He was just legendary throughout the playoffs. And he won an NBA title.

It's impossible to know exactly what is going through Kawhi Leonard's head as he enters free agency; where his priorities lie and what his intentions might be. His decision is easily the most daunting variable an NBA champion has faced since Michael Jordan's (second) retirement in 1998.

With Golden State's future now in very serious peril, there's (gasp) potential for the Raptors to contend for years if Kawhi stays. Worst-case, they're left with a solid young core, and extremely good long-term cap sheet outlook.

But regardless of the outcome, both parties involved in this could-be divorce couldn't possibly have done more for the other this year.

And yes, even this one season of Kawhi beyond justifies the DeRozan trade.

1. This Was an All-Time NBA Finals
The 2019 NBA Finals were as much narrative, storylines, historical potential, uncertainty, emotional oscillation and brutally competitive basketball as you could possibly fit into six games. Based on that alone, they're an instant classic; perhaps not on par with 2013 or 2016, probably just a tier below.

But we've yet to see these Finals' greatest impact. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are now at ultimate career crossroads, faced both with high-stakes free agency decisions, and devastating injuries. Where they sign, and how fully they recover, could re-shape the NBA's power balance for years to come, possibly at the expense of Golden State's dynasty.

The future of the Finals MVP also hangs in the balance, and could bolster or burden an entire country's interest in the NBA. It was always assumed Leonard was a goner, but him remaining in the Big Smoke could crush several teams' free-agency plans. It would also set new precedent for Toronto; and finally shake their maybe-legitimate insecurity about their market status.

Leonard, Durant and Thompson will all likely be crucial cogs in the ongoing war against regular season attrition. The possibility of a shorter season continues to loom, with stars being sat at record rates and diluting both quality of play and fan experience. Leonard's health - after sitting out 20 games - and Durant & Thompson's lack thereof, are now all inflection points as the debate rages on.

There is also the undecided fate of Ujiri, who had the Washington Wizards offer him the Prince Ali package literally before the champagne had even been sprayed. The unprecedented deal offers ownership stake incentives, and would place a man with far-reaching global ambition in, by far, the most opportune NBA city.

(In related news, Ujiri is also being charged with battery against an Oakland sheriff's deputy, after initially being denied on-court access following Game 6's conclusion)

In the end, history was made, both with Canada's first title, and the Warriors somehow being toppled, in the most impactful way possible.

The Finals themselves were both jarring and inspirational on so many levels. They could also end up echoing loudly enough to change the game for years to come. We've witnessed something profound, but its true magnitude can't yet be comprehended.