NBA Awards

As I discusses in my prior blog, I had announced who had won the MVP award for the NBA 2021-2022 season. But I feel as though many people do not really look at the other players who had won some other significant awards. So here are just some of the awards that people have won.

Ja Morant - MIP

No one can argue the fact the Ja Morant has had a stellar season. He has had crazy layups, dunks, and just flashy plays that have kept people entertained.

The most surprising thing is the numbers that he put up. Ja was able to amass a career-high 27.4 points a a game. Going with this he averaged 6.7 assists plus 5.7 rebounds a game. He did all of this while being able to shoot 49.3 percent from the field. From last season, he was able to add 8.3 points to his average score and also 4.3 percent on his shooting. He was also able to shoot a career high 34.4 percent from the 3 point line. He posted six games with at least 40 points after having one after only having one 40 point game over his first two regular season as a Grizzly.

Marcus Smart - DPOY

Marcus Smart had a not too bad season this year. He ranked seventh in steals per game at 1.68 steals, and also tied for sixth and total steals at 119. Results from the voting process came in showing that Smart beat the competition pretty significantly. He totaled 257 votes while the runner up Mikal Bridges only had 202 points. As it shows on the NBA website, Smart is the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1995-1996.  He is also the second Celtic to be able to win this award, since Kevin Garnett from the 2007-2008 season. 

Even though Smart may not have put up the 1st place numbers, he put his body on the line to dive for balls and make the sacrifice to win the game for his team. He put his heart out there and was able to win the award. Do you believe that he should have won, or is there someone else in your mind that should have won this award?

Scottie Barnes - Rookie of the Year 

As there were many great prospects coming into the 2021-2022 NBA season, Scottie Barnes showed his case as to why he should have won ROTY. He average 15.3 points a game, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and was able to lead all rookies in minutes played at 35.4 minutes a game. A starter in every game he played, Barnes became the first rookie in Raptors history to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists in a season.  He set the franchise rookie record for offensive rebounds with 195, which was a team high and ranked 15th among all NBA players.

As the regular season was still happening, Barnes was named Kia NBA Eastern Conference rookie of the month twice in February and March/April. He was also selected to participate in the Clorox Rising stars at the NBA All-Star 2022. He helped the Raptors improve their record to 48-34 from a disappointing 27-45 last season. This selection was closer than the rest, with Barnes only winning by 15 points right in front of Evan Mobley.

Do you thinks were the right players to win the awards? Or do you think that their were other players that deserved these awards? Let me know down below!