February 1
FILE – In this Jan. 15, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, right, shoots as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic defends during the second half of a basketball game of the NBA, in Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers have already almost guaranteed the first two seeds of the playoffs and face a delicate balance when the NBA returns to action. They should try to remove the rust after a 4 1/2 month hiatus while still staying as healthy as possible during the postseason. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill, File)
February 1
FILE – In this Jan. 15, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, right, shoots as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic defends during the second half of a basketball game of the NBA, in Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers have already almost guaranteed the first two seeds of the playoffs and face a delicate balance when the NBA returns to action. They should try to remove the rust after a 4 1/2 month hiatus while still staying as healthy as possible during the postseason. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill, File)
LAGO BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – The NBA MVP career is over. This is the battle for any other regular season individual trophy.
The league told teams on Friday that none of the qualifying games will count toward any postseason awards, and that voting for those honors, such as All-NBA, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, will be completed earlier. July 30 restart of the season at Walt Disney World.
Those votes are generally cast closer to the end of the regular season. Therefore, postseason races still continue in many cases, but the individual prize chases are now complete.
“The decision to exclude seed games from award voting guarantees a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 teams will have an equal opportunity to be honored as the best players in the regular season,” the NBA wrote in a memo sent to teams on Friday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo.
Only 22 of the 30 teams in the league participate in the NBA restart.
The league’s decision, not unexpected, means that Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s campaign for consecutive MVP awards technically ended more than four months ago when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Antetokounmpo won his first MVP award after averaging 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last season. This season, he is expected to return to being the MVP favorite with averages of 29.6 points and 13.7 rebounds for the Bucks, who have the best record in the league.
The NBA decision also means New Orleans’ Zion Williamson, who has appeared in just 19 games this season, won’t be able to make a belated effort to try to catch suspected rookie leader Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies.
It’s unclear whether Williamson will even be with the Pelicans for reopening night on July 30 when they face the Utah Jazz in the first game on the Disney campus. On Thursday he left the alleged NBA bubble to deal with what the team called “an urgent family medical matter.” and the pelicans said they intend to return on an unspecified date.
Statistical championships, such as scoring titles, rebounds, assist and steal, are technically available until the end of the seed games in mid-August. The league announced that part of the plan when the schedules for the eight qualifying games were released last month.
Most of those statistical trophy races are mathematically decided. Houston’s James Harden has a dominating scoring career lead as he approaches his third consecutive title in that category, and becomes the eighth player in NBA history to win the scoring crown in at least three seasons. consecutive.
The others who won the scoring title in at least three consecutive seasons: Michael Jordan (who did it on two separate streaks), Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Durant, George Gervin, Bob McAdoo, Neil Johnston and George Mikan.
Cleveland’s Andre Drummond has a considerable advantage in the rebounding title race. Los Angeles Lakers ‘LeBron James would remain ahead of second place, Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young in the assist-per-game run, even if James plays in all eight qualifying games and does not record a single assist.
If James, 35, wins the assist title, and it would take a mathematical oddity to prevent that from happening, he will be the second oldest player to claim that award. Steve Nash was 37 when he won his last crown of assists.
And James is also online to be by far the oldest player in NBA history to finish a season with an average of at least 25 points and 10 assists. That happened just nine other times in the NBA, the last to do was Russell Westbrook when he was 29 in 2017-18.
The robbery career is still uncertain; Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons leads with 2.13 per game, while Chicago’s Kris Dunn, currently in second place, finished her season with 1.98 per game.
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