In the lane
PLAYERS CHOICE: When it comes to awards, there is no issue here about the union having their own “Players Choice” awards. In fact, the players could trump the NBA by including the postseason in their balloting, something that is not the case with the official NBA awards, where ballots are void if not received by Thursday. In a league where the postseason lasts as long as a third of the regular season, why not count the most significant portion? Yes, not everyone makes the postseason, but so many of the awards are based on team success, such as those championing Mirotic over Wiggins for Rookie of the Year, so why not factor in ultimate success (or, quite possibly for awards like Coach of the Year, when falling short should matter, ultimate failure)? The NBA points to its Finals MVP award as its postseason honor, but that factors in only one round and two teams. The NBA’s official awards would be so much more relevant if every game, regular season and postseason, counted, with an offseason televised ceremony to announce them, as the NHL does.
IRONY: League executives, not the media, vote for Executive of the Year, but the irony is that a case could be made for Danny Ferry, the in-limbo Atlanta Hawks general manager, who built the roster and made the coaching hire that produced the surprise story of the league this season. David Griffin probably will be the winner for the moves he made with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it will be interesting to see the level of solidarity with Ferry when fellow NBA executives cast their ballots. Ferry has been on a leave of absence since his racially questionable comments about Luol Deng, regarding his free-agency recruitment of the now-Heat forward, became public during the offseason.
HALL OF SHAME?: First, congratulations to the newest members of the Basketball Hall of Fame announced during the Final Four. Second, it is time for the NBA to have its own Hall of Fame. Like the NFL does with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sarunas Marciulionis in but Tim Hardaway still waiting? There is a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn. There is an FIBA Hall of Fame for international basketball in Alcobendas, Spain. There is a College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. And there are, of course, various state high school halls of fame throughout the country. But the NBA, with its propping up of the basketball hall in Springfield, Mass., has no such stand-alone facility. So there is a separate path for those from the international game, for those from the women’s game, for those from the college game, but domestic NBA players basically fall into the toughest of entry brackets, left with only a single hall option.