2006 NBA Awards!

I'm back, and even though typing with one hand makes me want to shoot myself, I can stay silent no longer! I've missed you all, and I've missed writing, and it's great to talk to you again.

Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, let's get this party started...

Defensive Player of the Year: Andrei Kirilenko, Jazz
I don't know how you can not vote for him if you've ever seen him play, which I had the pleasure of doing last Friday. He will guard ANYONE on the court. It's amazing. I've never seen a team rotate as much as the Jazz do, and it's because they know Kirilenko can stick anyone on the court, from the PG to the center. I'm telling you, if the Jazz could ever stay healthy for a whole season, they would be incredible. Consider Ben Wallace considered, but this is Andrei's.

Sixth Man of the Year: Jerry Stackhouse, Your Dallas Mavericks!
NARROWLY beats out Mike Miller in a very ho-hum category this year. Yes the Grizz have overachieved, but to me the question isn't why is Mike Miller the 6th man, but why isn't he starting? That team isn't talented enough for him to not be starting. Ben Gordon is in a similar situation--he's such an ass and a ball hog that his coach won't start him. I can't reward him for that. Stackhouse, on the other hand, has been the savvy veteran bench slasher/scorer that brought some much needed toughness and attitude to the third best team in the league. Another ho-hum category.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul, Hornets
Another ho-hum award, on the fact that Paul won it so easily. I honestly agree with the popular writer's sentiment that anyone who doesn't vote for Paul should have their priveledges revoked.

Most Improved Player: David West, Hornets
This one was unbelievably hard this year. First of all, let's consider these men considered: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Nenad Krstic, and Paul Pierce. Good job guys, our thoughts dwelled on you momentarily. Next, DeSagana Diop can consider himself seriously considered, as in, "Man in most year's you'd be a shoe in candidate, it's just unfortunate that this year it was so stacked." Sorry DeSagana--but great job, and enjoy yourself in your first playoffs.

The real debate is between Boris Diaw & David West. I won't bother giving stats because both had incredible seasons, and vastly improved on their previous seasons. The reason I went with West over Diaw (and I literally went home and slept on it before I reached my decision) is that West's team is so much worse. What talent is there on the Hornets? CP3, of course. But who else? Chris Anderson was their third best player, and he was coked up for half the season! P.J. Brown plays the entire game for them, and he's like 800 years old! Speedy Claxton played so much for them that he is a 6th Man Candidate! Whereas Diaw had Steve Nash (reigning MVP), Shawn Marion (the most underrated player in the history of the NBA), Kurt Thomas, and Raja Bell. Much better supporting cast. However...this was an incredibly close call, and congrats to them both.

Coach of the Year: Avery Johnson, Your Dallas Mavericks!
Another tough category. I consider there only three real candidates: Mike D'Antoni, Flip Saunders, and Avery. All are very deserving. However, D'Antoni doesn't get it because I don't think Phoenix is quite as good as everyone thinks (they are a DISTANT third, and only beat Memphis for the 3rd best record by 5 games), and the fact that even without Amare they had such a good core in tact (see above). Flip--who I love--doesn't win it because I think the Pistons coach themselves. That's what makes the Pistons so great: they are a group of true professionals who put the team first, have been together for so long they know each other perfectly, and go bust their asses every night. That's why the Larry Brown era was ending: he wasn't treating them with the respect they deserved. He was riding them like a bunch of kids, and they didn't need that, and they didn't appreciate that. Flip comes in, looks at the group, makes a couple of minor changes along the lines of suggestions, and let's his guys play, which is EXACTLY what he needed to do. Is he a genius and a great coach for realizing that's all he needed to do? Absolutely. But that means he didn't have to "coach" as much, and when the competition is this close, you will probably lose.

Which is what he did. Avery took over a team that was used to playing a particular style of basketball that was lazy and ineffective. He took over a team that had lost key pieces and added new ones that no one knew if they would fit or not. He took over a team that lacked(s) a true leader. And what did he do? Lead them to the best record over 82 games ever for a new coach. He led them to the third best record in the league. He transformed the team to where they finally look like a legitimate playoff contender/championship threat, and not just a regular season flash in the pan. I tend to think coaches are overrated. It's the players, not the coaches. But make no mistake: the Mavs success is not because of Dirk being an MVP candidate, but because of Avery being COY. Congrats Avery.

MVP: Lebron James, Cavaliers
We'll do a quick top 5 in reverse order:

5. Dirk Nowitzki, Your Dallas Mavericks: Only star on the league's third best team. However, as I said earlier, Avery was the key to the Mavs success, not Dirk.

4. Steve Nash, Suns: Fantastic season, great job leading the Suns to a surprising record. But Shawn Marion does not get the credit he deserves for helping to make this team great.

3. Kobe Bryant, Lakers: God I hate him. A great statistical season, and good job leading your team to the playoffs. But you know what I'll hold against him when it comes to MVP voting? The Shaq debacle. Here's why: an MVP should make your team better, not worse. His getting rid of Shaq changed the Lakers from a championship contender every year to a playoff contender. That is not making your team better. I saw a quote last night from Koab about how "my critics said I couldn't lead a team to the playoffs, and I used that as motivation." You still don't get it asshole. You're supposed to lead a team to a CHAMPIONSHIP. Not the playoffs. You don't lower the franchise's value and expectations just so you can fulfill your own selfish ego needs. Until Shaq is no longer a dominant presence in the league, or until the Lakers compete for a championship, Kobe cannot be MVP.

The Kobe, the.

2. Dwayne Wade, Heat. People forget that the Heat were on pace to finish in the middle of the pack in the East until the Heat were playing the Pistons midseason, were down by 13 midway through the 4th, and Wade decided "fuck this, I'm not losing anymore" and scored 17 straight to win the game. It was incredible. It was Michael-esque. And the Heat officially became Dwayne Wade's team that day. You see, up to that point, most people--including the Heat--thought it was Shaq's team, and that the Heat couldn't beat the elite teams in the league without Shaq. That day the Heat realized, "Wait, any time DWade is on the court, we can beat anybody." And they're right.

DWade is my second favorite player in the league right now, behind KG--and it's becoming so sad to watch KG that D might pass him. He has KG's fire and love for the game. It doesn't matter if it's the Skills Competition of All Star Weekend or Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, DWade NEVER wants to lose--and can and will take his game to incredible heights to get his team there. Congrats on a fantastic season.

1. Lebron James, Cavaliers. Narrowly beats out DWade, and really for one reason: his team was only 2 games worse than the Heat, and his team was far inferior to Wade's. Let's compare each team's two best players:

1. Lebron James. 1. Dwayne Wade
2. Zydrunas Ilgauskas 2. Shaq

Yeah. I'd rather have Shaq, too. In this, his third season, Lebron lived up to all of the lofty expectations that were set for him when he came into the league. And that's why he is the MVP.

As always, some of my own awards:

The Antoine Walker Memorial Most Overrated Player: Peja Stojakavic, Pacers
The Peja went to the Pacers and brought them nothing. Absolutely nothing. And he should have fit in well there with a long post presence as good as Jermaine O'Neal. Antoine Walker also received consideration for this award for almost ruining Miami.

The Shawn Marion Memorial Most Underrated Player: Shawn Marion, Suns
I am constantly at a loss about this. When you listen to people talk about the Sun's surprising season, you hear Eddie House mentioned more than him. HELLOOOO!!!! Just because he always averages 20-10, is one of the best defensive players in the league, and can play any position doesn't mean he's not a fucking factor. God!

The Player I Want To See Traded Most: Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves
You know, normally I don't buy into the "the team owes it to player x to trade him to a contender" argument. But this is one of the situations where I do agree with that. KG has given his heart and soul to this franchise for too long, always playing hard, changing them from league laughingstock to a quality team, never complaining when the franchise made stupid move after stupid move. So please. Trade him. He deserves better than your incompetence.

And if you trade him to the Knicks, I just might have to drive up to Minnesota and hurt Glen Taylor and Kevin McHale.

Best Charles Barkely Comment of the Year
His ongoing ripping of the Mavs. It became a bit for him to say the Mavs weren't an elite team, just to fuck with Cuban and the Mavs fans. It was hilarious, and I enjoyed it--almost as much as I enjoy listening to Charles talk about the importance of playing D since he never bothered to even try on D when he was in the league.

Player I Can't Wait To See Play Next Year: Larry Hughes, Cavaliers
Their big offseason acquisition was injured most of the year. I cannot WAIT to see how great this Cavs team can be with him their all year.

The Shawn Bradley Memorial Player I'd Most Like To See Hit by a Mack Truck: Ron Artest, Kings
Tough competition this year. However, Artest pulls it out by totally ruining the franchise that stood behind his completely insane and overrated ass for years. If they hadn't stolen Danny Granger in the draft, I'd say that the Pacers are done for the next few years. They've still got a chance though.

And finally...

My Favorite "Just Desserts" Winner: Larry Brown, Knicks
For years I've been saying he is one of the worst human beings alive, and is totally overrated as a coach. Finally, this year, as he intentionally sabotaged the team he begged to go to just to win a petty power struggle with the worst GM in the league, he proved me correct--while ruining his reputation in the process.

Thank you Larry. Thank you.

And remember kids...the NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!

NBA Midseason Awards

It's about time for the All Star break, and what a fantastic season it has been! I'll start thinking of this year as the "Twilight Zone Year", as so many weird things have happened. By the time you're done reading this, you'll agree with me. Trust me. But I digress...on to the awards!

Defensive Player of the Year: Does anyone care about this this year? Does anyone notice? Let's just give it to Big Ben Wallace again. He's having a nice season.

Coach of the Year: Avery Johnson, Mavericks. Do you relize the Mavs have the third best record in the entire league? And that they are a half game behind San Antonio for the second? Did you know that the Mavs are ninth in the league in DEFENSE? Did you ever think that would happen? Yeah, me either.

Flip Saunders got some strong consideration here, but he inherited a team that was already great. And I've been telling you for years that Larry Brown is ridiculously overrated as a coach, so he doesn't get as much credit with the oustanding play of the Pistons this season.

Player Who Has Amazed Me the Most This Year: Richard Hamilton, Pistons. He's shooting 50.6% from the field. HE'S A JUMP SHOOTER. He's shooting 50.8% from the three point line! That's insane! Watching him play is just amazing. I know Chauncey is having his best year, and is doing a great job, and is setting everyone on the team up so well, but Hamilton is the one who is most responsible for taking the team to another level. I bet I've watched the Pistons play at least 10 times this season, and every single time the other team goes on a run and the Pistons need a bucket, he scores. EVERY TIME.

And he used to drive me crazy. I used to not be able to stand his game. But since he never misses anymore...wow. Great job Rip.

ROY: Chris Paul, Hornets. This isn't even close. He's on my top ten list for the MVP of the fricking league. We all thought we'd seen the last of the true, great point guards with Jason Kidd, but Paul is even better. He's a pure scorer who shoots well but doesn't look to dominate the game by scoring, is amazingly quick, is surprisingly strong, and is already one of the 5 best passers in the league. Do you realize the Hornets are in the playoffs if the season ended today? How amazing is that? In the West? I thought they would be the worst team in the league! This is a team who's three best players are a rookie, a third year player who averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds his first two seasons, and some white boy who just got kicked out of the league for two years for using one of the "serious" drugs (cocaine, heroine, et all. Nothing wrong with marijuana in the NBA though, don't worry!). He also gets bonus points for being the first player I have ever taken in all 3 of my fantasy leagues (normally I don't like to commit that much to one player, but I felt safe with Paul). He's fantastic.

Player We'd Most Like To See Hit by a Mack Truck (or the Shawn Bradley Memorial Award): Mark Blount, Timberwolves. Bill Simmons has been ranting about him ever since he played hard one season and tricked the Celtics to signing him to a $40 mil deal. He (correctly) predicted that after signing said deal, that Blount would go back to sucking and not caring. Then, when he played the Celtics his second game after being traded to the Wolves, suddenly he was able to have his best game of the seaons (16 pts, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks).

Mr. Blount, we salute you. With our middle fingers.

Most Underappreciated Player in the NBA: Michael Redd, Bucks. Sure, he's making $90 mil, but Redd is avergaing 25.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.07 steals while leading surprising Milwaukee to fifth place in the East. Nobody's giving him any credit for continuing to play well and hard after signing his big deal, and for being a great leader on a young team with a lot of new faces. Way to go, Michael!

The Antoine Walker Memorial Most Overrated Player in the NBA: Ron Artest, Kings. I just don't get it. Why do people keep thinking he's going to be a productive player on any team? Even though I'm not a big fan, I do like this quote from Bill Parcells (he was referring to injured players at the time): "I can't do anything with a player that isn't here." RON ARTEST WILL NEVER BE THERE! He's going to be suspended, either by you or the league, all the time. And if you (the team) don't penalize him when he says things like, "I want to take a month or two off to promote my rap album in the middle of the season", then he's either A) going to go out there and pout and suck until he ruins your team, or he's going to go out there and do something to get himself suspended by the league so he's off like he wanted. Good God.

SOMEONE PLEASE CHECK HIM FOR STEROIDS!!!!!

Things I Never Thought I'd See Happen: Do you realize that KG, Shaq, and Tim Duncan don't matter anymore? Did you ever think that would be the case? KG's team is bad and going nowhere, probably for the rest of his career. Unless he goes somewhere else, he will never truly compete for a title ever again in his career. FUCK YOU, SAM CASSELL AND LATRELL SPREEWELL.

Sorry. Shaq is one, MAYBE 2 seasons away from being done. I mean, he's moved into that Patrick Ewing area of "Good God, my joints start hurting just watching you run up and down the court." He's so stiff it's scary, and it's only going to get worse. In 2 years he won't be able to move.

TD is almost in the same category. I don't think it's so much that his body has given out on him yet; I think it's just that he is smart enough to know that he is one or two injuries away from that happening, so he's out there playing like he's walking on broken glass barefoot. I don't blame him for trying to stay healthy for the playoffs and prolong his career. It just means that he's not nearly as effective. I mean, do you really consider him to be the MVP of the Spurs this year? I'd say--as much as I hate to say it--that Tony Parker is the MVP so far this year, and you could even make a case of Manu being more important than him. Sure, he's the glue that holds the bunch together, but they have been the differencemakers so far.

Maybe he'll turn it around in the playoffs. But the fact is he is averaging career lows in every category--something is off here. But if he doesn't turn it around and I'm Mavs playing him in the playoffs, I'm covering the other four members of the team like crazy and making them not score, and saying to Timmy "score as much as you want buddy. I'm betting whatever your aging body and 65% foul shooting can put up isn't enough to beat us."

Finally, Mid Season MVP's: Honorable Mention: Paul Pierce, Celtics (consider him considered), Gilbert Arenas (poor man's Kobe), Richard Hamilton/Chauncey Billups (no one can decide who is more important, so they cancel each other out from going higher), Allen Iverson (almost made the TD/KG/Shaq list, but his 33pts keeps him here one more season), Chris Paul (see above).

5. Elton Brand, Clippers: 24.6 pts, 10.4 rebs, 52.2% fg, 77.2% ft, 2.6 blocks. Here's what frustrates me about Elton Brand: HE HAS A SEASON LIKE THIS EVERY YEAR. His FG% is a little higher, but other than that he's right where he is every year. He's right there with Shawn Marion for being the Perenially Underappreciated Player.

The difference is the Clips are winning this year. However, since he's averaging pretty much the same stats, does that have more to do with him, or more to do with the additions of Sam Cassell, Cutino Mobley, and the emergence of Chris Kaman? I guess if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, there is no sound.

4. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs: 25.9 pts, 8.4 rebs, 47.7% fg, 42.9% 3pt, 88.9% ft. Oustanding season for a surprising Mavs team. Even more surprising considering how poorly he handled the leadership of the team in the playoffs. He did a good job of rebounding from that.

He's be higher if he wasn't averaging career lows in rebounds, blocks, steals, and assists. I'm much more enthusiastic about Avery winning Coach of the Year than I am about Dirk winning the MVP.

3. Lebron James, Cavs: 31.2 pts, 6.9 rebs, 49.3% fg, 35.4% 3pt, 73.1% ft, 6.3 asts, 1.7 stls. Phenominal season, and the Cavs finally have enough firepower to go not only make but make some noise in the playoffs (not a knock on Lebron; it wasn't his fault his teams weren't good enough in the past). However, he needs to be more clutch. Quit settling for bad jumpers at the end of the game Lebron! He doesn't seem to have that "I'm going to fin kill them" desire to take over the game at the end like--dare I say it--Jordan did. Also, let's raise that FT% too.

Yes, we're nit picking you Lebron. But you're so good we have to.

2. Steve Nash, Suns. 19.3 pts, 4.5 rebs, 47.9% fg, 42.4% 3pt, 92.4% ft, 11.4 asts, .9 stls. If there were any doubts as to Nash being the MVP last year, he put them to rest this year. I agree with those pundits who say that Nash is even more deserving of the trophy this year than he was last. Nash has taken a mediocre team and moved them into SECOND FRICKING PLACE in the West. Not only that, but his leadership has been incredible. Do you think Boris Diaw would be half the player he is without having to Nash to watch and learn from night in and night out? You can watch Diaw watch him and say, "hey, I can kind of play like that too!" James Jones is averaging 10pts a game. JAMES FRICKING JONES. Just incredible. Hats off to you, little Stevie Nash. You would assuredly be the MVP most years had it not been for the insane performance of...

1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers. 81 points in one game.

Sure, I can put all his stats up there, which are impressive. But we all know what kind of season he is having. And though I still loathe Kobe, he's been so good he's done two things I never thought would ever happen: 1) He's got people outside of LA cheering for him, and 2) his Lakers are in position to make the playoffs, in spite of the fact that outside of him and Lamar Odom they are absolutely horrible.

So I begruggingly give Kobe the MVP award. Congrats Koab. It's what you always wanted.

And yes, I watched (most) of the Stephen A interview with him last night, and yes, more on that later.

Remember everyone...the NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!!

NBA Trophy Time

Time for the individual season awards; the best the NBA had to offer. Here we go...

Coach of the Year: Tough year. My respect for coaches is usually pretty low, but I have to admit there were some good coaching jobs this year. Nate McMillian and Mike D'Antonio helped revolutionize NBA basketball this season with the Sonics and Suns, respectively, thank God for both of them. Rick Carlisle dealt with all of the insanity that happened to the Pacers this season and still got his team into the playoffs, with a decent chance to go to the second round. George Karl damn near singlehandedly turned around a Nuggets squad into one of the best teams in the league. Scott Skiles somehow not only got a team of underachievers in Chicago not only into the playoffs, but with home court advantage. All of these men did outstanding jobs and deserve consideration.

In the end, I'll go ahead and go with D'Antoni. The Sonics were probably more surprising in their turnaround, but they had the same coach last year, and they didn't finish as well as the Suns did. D'Antoni did an outstanding job in his first NBA head coaching stint, and brought a breath of fresh air to a league that needed it. Congratulations Mike.

Rookie of the Year: Congrats to Dwight Howard and Ben Gordon for having nice years. But this is pretty much Emeka Okafur going away. 15.1 points, 10.9 reebs, and 1.7 blocks. But most impressive is him leading the Bobcats to 18 wins as an expansion team. I mean, the Bobcats were the third worst team in the NBA this year. They should have been by far the worst. So good job, Emeka.

Most Improved Player: Bobby Simmons, LA Clippers. To be quite honest, I don't even see how there's much of a doubt. The is the Most Improved Award, not the "It's nice that you finally recovered from your injury award", so no to Grant Hill. Teyshaun Prince did improve as a scorer, but he raised his scoring average 4 points. Had anyone even heard of Simmons? He improved from 7.8 to 16.4 ppg, 4.7 to 5.9 reebs, and upped his FG% from 39.4% to 43.5%. He was instrumental in the Clips huge improvement.

6th Man of the Year: I'm sorry, but what is everyone's obsession with Ben Gordon? I think it's cause he went to college. Ricky Davis--yes, the insane Ricky Davis--is the 6th Man of the Year. Ben Gordon will win it, but why? Ricky averaged more points, more rebounds, more assists, had a higher field goal percentage, averaged twice as many steals, and had more blocks. Team success was pretty much the same--within two games if I remember correctly. And come on, is there anyone less likely to win this award? Give the guy some credit! In a year of crazy guys doing bad things, let's reward a crazy guy for doing good things.

Defensive Player of the Year: I'll go with Shawn Marion, since he guards a much more versatile list of players (anywhere from 2 guards to power forwards). Bruce Bowen will probably win it, though, and is just as deserving.

MVP: Tough year. Steve Nash was incredible for the Suns, but he does play with Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, and Quentin Richardson. Would the Suns be so great if they lost any of them? No. And on top of that, Nash is without question a defensive liability. You can't be the MVP only on one side of the court. Shaq was great this season, but so was Dwayne Wade. I'm sorry, but I honestly feel that Wade is the MVP of that team, not Shaq. If you look at his stats, he's actually a little down this year as compared to last. Lebron was incredible, but team success is a big factor, and his team didn't make the playoffs. Next year, Lebron. Timmy was hurt too much to be the MVP again. AI was great, but I still feel like his team has underachieved. How can you put up the numbers he did and still finish 7th in the East? Something was missing there to crown him MVP.

So, that leaves me with something I can't believe I'm writing, but it's true...

Dirk Nowitzki is the MVP of the league.

I swear to God I'm not being a homer here. But when I add up all the important things, Dirk stands out. He averaged career highs in scoring, assists, and 3pt%. His defense was REMARKABLY improved this year. His team was going through incredible changes and faced injury problems all year, and yet he still guided them to third in the West. He stepped up as a leader for the first time in his career.

Dirk--already without question before this season a top 15 NBA player, and arguably a top ten--singlehandedly led an overachieving team to unanticipated regular season success.

I think that's the definition of an MVP.

Some other awards...

Player We'd Most Like To See Hit by a Mack Truck (or the Shawn Bradley Memorial Award): Vince Carter. Is there anything worse than in the middle of the season, Vince gets the trade he wanted, and suddenly starts playing like an All Star? Not only that, but he admitted to not playing hard in Toronto! I'm reminded of a really funny Onion article I read once, "Asshole admits to being Asshole in supremely Asshole move." That's Vince. Hi Toronto, I gave up on you guys after signing my big contract, fucked you over for three years, and then as soon as I left with all my money I started trying hard again.

Hey Vince: FUCK YOU!

Best Charles Barkely Comment of the Year: On St. Patrick's Day: "Just what the Irish need, another reason to get drunk." Who else in the world can get away with saying this? And yes, I laughed. And yes, I'm Irish.

Player I Cannot Wait To See Play Next Year: Ron Artest. Come on. Was there any doubt? And you know you want to, too.

Most Quotable Player of the Year: Jalen Rose, Toronto Raptors. Let's take a quick look at the Jalen Rose hit parade this year:

"There's always going to be criticism when your name is Jalen. You have to wear a bulletproof vest and be ready for it."

"Like I told the guys earlier, once he turns 21 and is able to drink, it's over."
After LeBron James (20) scored 56 on the Raptors.

"He probably was a little tired from All-Star weekend. While he was running up and down the court throwing it off the backboard, I was laying on the beach drinking a fruity drink with an umbrella. So I probably gave myself an unfair advantage on that one."
Explaining why he outplayed Vince Carter two days after the All-Star Game.

"Was it for Richard Jefferson?"
After hearing that Vince Carter had been traded to New Jersey. Unfortunately, Jalen, the answer was nothing. Can't you see the expression on his face? "No All Star for you Jalen; VC got traded for nothing!" The real question: was shoot first Jalen mad that they didn't get Jefferson, or happy, because that meant he got to shoot more?

"I'm a GM in fantasy basketball and I'm a GM on Playstation, so on Playstation I probably would have got a little more, but this is real life, so I don't know."
After the Raptors traded Vince Carter for, well, nothing.

"I've got to stop this. My entourages are getting entourages."
Explaining the trouble finding tickets for everyone when he returns to Detroit, his hometown.

The Lebron one has to be my favorite. Thanks for a great season of quotes Jalen! Keep up the good work.

Most Underappreciated Player in the NBA: Shawn Marion. Look at this guys stat line: 19.4 pts, 11.3 reebs, 1.9 asts, 47.6% FG, 33.4% 3PT, 83.3% FT, 2.0 steals, 1.5 blocks, and only 1.5 TOs a game. "Wow", you might say, "he had a breakout season!" NO HE DIDN'T. He's been doing that for five years! Throw out his rookie season, and those are all career averages for him. And he's fun to watch! He has a really different but cool looking shot! And his nickname is "The Matrix!" I have no idea why, but it's cool! I love Shawn Marion.

The Antoine Walker Memorial Most Overrated Player in the NBA: Yes, this is my favorite award. And this year, it was a no brainer. I don't even need to put why this guy was the most overrated player. I don't even need to put his last name.

Kobe.