NBA Departmental Awards

With the NBA season past its midpoint, the debates over the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards are getting heated. The League is full of players worthy of these prestigious awards, but here are the Sports Department's choices.

Giannis is the MVP

With the 15th pick in the 2013 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Giannis Antetokounmpo, a freakishly tall and skinny player from Greece. Besides the fact that he resembled the great LeBron James in terms of his ability to handle the ball as a forward, Antetokounmpo didn’t seem to possess the skills of a future MVP. He slid under the radar, and his relatively average rookie campaign with Milwaukee didn't garner any hype either.

Fast forward five years. The Bucks have the best record in the NBA and are cruising through the Eastern Conference, with the “Greek freak” leading the way. The Bucks have been averaging a league-leading 117.6 points per game and have transitioned from one of the worst rebounding teams into the very best. That has a lot to do with Antetokounmpo, who has been named an all-star for three consecutive years and is averaging career highs in points (27), rebounds (12.6), and field goal percentage (57.9 percent).

Antetokounmpo is not your typical forward. His ability to muscle his way into the paint and make a basket is comparable to other great power forwards like Karl Malone and Dirk Nowitzki. His insane athleticism allows him to make even the toughest of step-backs look easy. While Milwaukee tends to spread the floor when he is on the court, he has demonstrated his unselfishness time and time again. His unique court vision allows him to find key shooters such as Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, who capitalize on these opportunities. The success can be seen in the statistics. Despite the Bucks being near the bottom of the league in passes this season, they make up for it by generating nearly 65 points from their assists, a number that has been rising since 2015. This began when Antetokounmpo received more playing time. The Greek’s ability to bring out the best in other players is what makes the Bucks a serious threat in the playoffs.

A key critique used by Antetokounmpo doubters was that he lacked a consistent three-point shot, but he has been proving everybody wrong in recent months. Since January, he has made three shots from downtown on four separate occasions, whereas earlier this season he struggled to make even one. In any case, Antetokounmpo makes up for it on the defensive end. He currently leads the league with a 99.1 defensive rating and 5.0 defensive box plus-minus. These are factors that attribute to his 12.2 win shares and leadership of his team defensively. As of now, the Bucks lead the league in defensive rating with a stellar 104.4.

Antetokounmpo is revolutionizing the game of basketball, running fast breaks and taking pull up threes as a 7-footer. He is unstoppable in the paint, terrifying on the break, and is constantly throwing down highlight dunks on every other NBA team. Even without watching him, you could tell that Antetokounmpo should be the MVP because he checks the two most important boxes. He’s leading his team to the best record in the NBA, and he’s putting out a line of 27 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists per game. No one else besides LeBron James is doing that in the NBA, and his team is struggling to contend for a playoff spot. Antetokounmpo is scarily good, and his 2019 MVP campaign will only be the first of many.

Luka Doncic is the Rookie of the Year. Period

The teenage sensation from Slovenia has taken the NBA by storm in his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks, and he has broken virtually every single teenage rookie record. Luka Doncic had been so consistent throughout the season with very few average performances. In about 80 percent of his games, he has put up all-star numbers since being drafted third overall in last year’s draft.

Doncic has averaged 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game. He had little competition until last month, when Trae Young scored 49 points in a game that went through four overtimes. Though this number is truly astounding—especially by a rookie—the most important stat column was not filled: a win. The Hawks lost that game, and their record is 23-45, which is atrocious and certainly not good enough to win the extremely prestigious award Rookie of the Year.

So back to Doncic revolutionizing the game—he has broken many teenage records both per game and total. Doncic is the first teenager ever with a 30-point triple-double , and he is currently the only teenager of all time with multiple triple-doubles. Aside from that, Doncic averages the most points per game out of all the rookies and has been very consistent (which not many players can say, rookie or veteran) throughout the entire season.

Doncic has also lead the Mavericks to a respectable 27-40 record in one of the toughest conferences of the last half-century. The PER of Doncic (a stat to measure how effective a player is within his given minutes) is 19.5, outpacing the rest of the rookies by four. He is the best all-around rookie player in the NBA, with a very balanced stats column and no true weaknesses. Doncic is so valuable to the Mavericks and even has multiple double-digit fourth quarters showing that he can step up for his team when it matters most. When it’s all said and done, Doncic is the rookie who helps his team win the most games, and that’s what the NBA is about.

Not only are his stats insane, but his tremendous 1.9 fouls per game and the fact that he has not been injured show that he has the best ability in a game: availability. His persistence and consistency with shooting, effort, and leadership truly make him the earner of the Rookie of the Year Award.

Do you agree with our choices? If you do, feel free to apply to Sports and tell us why. If you don’t, feel free to apply to Sports and tell us why not. As the season continues, we will release our choices for the other four awards as well, so stay tuned for that!