Transparency is a two-way street. For years, NBA media members – echoing the sentiments of its passionate fan base – wanted more transparency from Commissioner David Stern and his executive staff. Whether it was a lottery drawing, a suspension in the playoffs or a referee scandal, folks felt like they were entitled to an explanation. And they were. Stern grudgingly came around. He arranged for the media to meet with referees prior to the season about rules changes. He allowed the media
My ballot will be e-mailed to NBA headquarters late at night one week from today, and I will then publish all of my picks for postseason awards — as is my standard practice. But not every one of the 126 voters makes his/her selections public. At least that is the way it has been in the past. But this year, transparency rules. The Pro Basketball Writers Association and the NBA media relations office have come to an agreement under which all of
It’s a two-man race. We all can agree on that, right? But who is the more worthy candidate: LeBron James? Or Kevin Durant? This week, we let y’all have your say as we post a poll within this post. You can even vote for somebody else if you so choose, but the majority of folks will vote for the player who leads the league in scoring or the player who went off for 61 points on Monday night. Once you cast your ballot,
The NBA does not give out midseason awards. We do at SheridanHoops.com. Chris Bernucca wrote a fantastic column with his picks for everything from Most Valuable Player to Executive of the Year, and a clickthrough is recomended just so you can read the snarky remarks he adds at the end of each category. Bernucca is quite witty. And his column includes so many notes from around the NBA, it’ll make your head spin. I, too, have some picks for midseason awards, and I
Martin Luther King Day is more than a day of celebration and reflection for the NBA, which probably has done more positive things for race relations than any other sport in the Civil Rights Era. It also has become the unofficial midway point of the season. By the completion of Monday’s action, more than half of the league’s 30 teams will have played half their games. With that in mind, we present our midseason awards with this reminder from the bookie of hopeless
Who cast a first-place vote for Carmelo Anthony for Most Valuable Player, denying LeBron James the honor of being the first unanimous selection in NBA history? It was Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. [Read more…]
Perhaps the greatest indicator of LeBron James’ current dominance of the NBA is that the only controversy in Most Valuable Player voting is who deserves to be second. There haven’t been many times in NBA history when that was the case – when it was one player doing a Secretariat and the field 31 lengths behind. The closest in recent years probably was 1995-96 when Michael Jordan led the Bulls to a 72-10 record. He had 109 of 113 first-place votes that
I always wait until the final day of the season to make up my mind on my official NBA ballot choices. Why? Because during the lockout-shortened NBA season in 1999, I was in San Antonio covering a forgettable game at the Alamodome when I spoke with a veteran writer for a national publication who had already submitted his ballot after only 44 of the 50 games had been played. I asked him, and I asked myself … “What’s the rush?” I was working at