For NBA fans this is an exciting time of the year as the playoffs get started on Saturday even though everyone pretty much assumes it’s the field vs. Golden State. If I had to take either side of this bet…I’d take Golden State unless either Steph Curry or Kevin Durant sustain some type of injury in the first round against Patrick Beverly. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Patrick Beverly took out Steph Curry’s knee right on the sideline in front of Steve Kerr?
Anyway—my awards.
MVP: I’ll go Giannis as my No. 1 and Paul George as my No. 2 just because that one made shot on Wednesday night dropped the Rockets to the No. 4 seed.
Coach of the Year: I’m going Mike Budenholzer from the Bucks as my No. 1 and Terry Stotts from Portland as my No. 2. I love Stotts because of his adaptability and what he gets out of his roster every season. Since Nurkic went down the Trail Blazers are 7-1. Stotts was a money player back in the late 70’s at OU when the Sooners won their first ever Big 8 basketball championship. He also was an assistant coach under Carlisle when Dirk won his only ring. If I owned the Thunder it would be intriguing to consider Terry Stotts as my head coach with Nick Collison alongside him as the assistant head coach. Just a thought there, Clay Bennett.
Rookie of the Year: I’m going Trae Young just slightly over Luka Doncic. In reality—I’d name them Co-Rookies of the Year. I’m very interested to see how both Atlanta and Dallas come out of the draft this summer.
Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams of the LA Clippers with Eric Gordon of the Rockets when Houston is healthy and has their rotations aligned as should be. Dennis Schroder fell off the map when his son was born and needs to return if the Thunder are going to win a round or two.
NBA Executive of the Year; Jerry West of the Clippers. I can’t wait to see what unfolds this summer with Mr. West and all that cap space in LA with the Clips. So…where did Magic Johnson go?
NBA Announcer of the Year: I love Jeff van Gundy and Doris Burke…they’re my co-winners.
NBA Sideline Reporter of the Year: Are you kidding? Little Nick Gallo with the Thunder. He’s the only thing in those pressers with Westbrook which kept me even slightly amused with the Thunder after the All-Star break. Who would have known he had time to run the Daily Thunder as well?
Offensive Player of the Year: James Harden at No. 1 with Steph and Kevin tied at No. 2. So how is it Sam Presti has never won anything to date with Kevin, James Harden and Russell Westbrook?
Biggest Positive Surprise: I’ll go the Denver Nuggets for never collapsing and hanging around as the No. 2 seed in the West when nobody saw this coming.
Biggest Negative Surprise: The manner in which LeBron’s Lakers went south and stayed south after the groin injury in mid season. The situation in New Orleans with Anthony Davis would be second on my list.
My Favorite OKC Media Person in Relation to the Thunder: I’m going Jim Traber at No. 1 and Mark Rodgers at No. 2. Here’s a suggestion for Royce Young at Daily Thunder…why don’t you give Jim and Mark Rodgers a Bolt everyday like you do with my hero Nick Gallo? It would give the appearance you aren’t an owned subsidy of the Thunder.
And on that note…those are my regular season NBA awards.
Let’s go field–Beat the Warriors!