With the NBA’s regular season coming to an end, the focus not only shifts towards the playoffs, but also to the year’s potential NBA award winners. Let’s take a look at how some of the races are shaping out.
MVP
Nikola Jokic’s ability to maintain a successful season despite it being shortened has led him to be a probable MVP. Jokic hasn’t missed a game, plus the Denver Nuggets are closer to the three-seed than to the five-seed in the Western Conference and are in a position to hold home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Rookie of The Year
LaMelo Ball is back, with what was thought to be a season-ending wrist injury for the Charlotte Hornets rookie. He has fully healed and he has returned. It always seemed that if Ball came up short in the ROTY voting, it was going to be for not returning this season. With him back, the other rookies are playing for second place.
Defensive Player of the Year
The race for Defensive Player of the Year is tight between Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons and it might come down to availability. Gobert has not missed a game this season, while Simmons has missed more than 10. That’s not a lot of time missed, but the case isn’t stacked in his favor. Gobert is in the lead, within reach of his third DPOY award.
“The MVP should go to Curry because he putting up big numbers, the ROTY goes to LaMelo because he’s broke some big records, and there are a lot of good defensive players right now but in my book, I would give it to Anthony Davis even though he’s just come back from an injury,” said Paul Cobourne, a WJPS junior.
“The MVP is Steph Curry because he’s just nasty. The Rookie of the Year is LaMelo Ball since he has returned. And the Defensive Player of the Year is Rudy Gobert because of his ridiculous coverage of the paint and ability to protect the rim,” said Mr. Maroney, a physical education teacher at WJPS.
Each of these players in their respective races will continue to make their cases as the regular season comes to a close.
Photo: “Basketball” by mvongrue is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
