No word yet from the NBA on when the Most Valuable Player award will be announced, but you can pretty much assume it will be LeBron James (who did not have the ball in his hands for the final shot yesterday at Madison Square Garden, Dwyane Wade did.) But what about the playoffs? Who has been the MVP thus far? In my book, it has been Rajon Rondo despite his bumping of a referee that earned him a one-game suspension for Game 2.
We shall begin today the same way my wife’s elderly uncle begins his day when he opens the newspaper: By turning straight to the obituaries. The Knicks? Not dead. But barely on life support. The Mavs? At least most of them will have nice shiny rings when they get buried. Both were bad last night, and if you were looking to watch a compelling and entertaining basketball game you could have done better by going down to the local Y and sitting on
Tyson Chandler was awarded the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. But you know what, I think Serge Ibaka should have gotten it. Click on the video above to find out why, and insert your comments in this post or into the DPOY post from yesterday. CineSport’s Tara Petrolino and SheridanHoops.com’s Chris Sheridan discuss this, along with the Heat vs. the Knicks, and the Grizzlies’ win over the Clippers in Game 2. //
Anthony Davis, the projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick
NEW YORK – Jason Kidd is a good sport, one of the nicest, most thoughtful guys in the league. Today, he is being recognized for it. The Dallas Mavericks guard was announced as the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner. Kidd (Southwest) was one of six divisional winners, which included Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison (Central), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (Pacific), Miami’s Shane Battier (Southeast), Minnesota’s Luke Ridnour (Northwest), and New York’s Jeremy Lin (Atlantic). Kidd received
NEW YORK — In a close vote, Tyson Chandler edged Serge Ibaka for Defensive Player of the Year. Chandler becomes the first player in Knicks franchise history to earn the honor. Chandler received 311 points, including 45 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka finished second with 294 points (41 first-place votes) and Orlando’s Dwight Howard, who had won the award each of the previous three seasons, finished third with 186 points. Players were awarded
Every night, another knee injury. Or so it seems. This time, it was the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, walking off the court in disgust with just over four minutes left. Unlike Iman Shumpert (Knicks), who was carried off the court, and unlike Derrick Rose (Bulls), who was helped to the locker room by teammates, Smith walked of the court under his own power, and later exited the arena on his own two feet, according to the team. But
Gregg Popovich, who guided the San Antonio Spurs to the best record in the Western Conference, has been voted the NBA’s Coach of the Year, the league announced Tuesday. It is the second Red Auerbach trophy for Popovich, who also won in 2003. He received 77 first-place votes and 467 points from a 119-member media panel, easily outdistancing Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls, who won last year. Despite a compressed schedule shortened to 66 games by the lockout, the Spurs went