The NBA released its 2021–22 awards finalists on Sunday afternoon, sparking fan and player reaction from across the sport regarding potential snubs for each category.
As anticipated, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks, Joel Embiid of the 76ers and Nikola Jokić were selected as finalists for league MVP. These were the three anticipated finalists and there was not too much contention over the picks across social media.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year was also not too contentious. Mikal Bridges of the Suns, Rudy Gobert of the Jazz and Marcus Smart of the Celtics were all worthy candidates.
The same could be said for Sixth Man of the Year (Heat’s Tyler Herro, Suns’ Cam Johnson, Cavs’ Kevin Love) and Rookie of the Year (Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley).
However, things began to get a bit more dicey for Coach of the Year and Most Improved Player.
Let’s start with Coach of the Year, where fans expected first-year Celtics coach Ime Udoka to be among the finalists. Udoka led the Celtics to a 51–31 regular season record and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in his first year as an NBA head coach.
The omission of Udoka meant that Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Suns coach Monty Williams all made the final list.
However, out of all the finalists, the award that had fans buzzing the most was Most Improved Player.
The list included Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, who was very good a year ago and is blossoming into a young star in the league. There is no questioning Morant’s talent, but there is a question as to whether or not he actually should qualify in the “most improved” category considering how well he played as a rookie a year ago.
Darius Garland of the Cavaliers was a worthy candidate, as he emerged in Cleveland’s backcourt as an All-Star and led the team to the cusp of a playoff berth. The Cavaliers lost in the play-in tournament, but had a very successful season considering how they were viewed in the preseason among the teams in the East.
Dejounte Murray had a good season for the Spurs as he averaged 21.1 points per game and 9.2 assists per game and led the team to the cusp of the playoffs.
While Murray and Garland are legitimate candidates for the award, an argument could be made that Morant is not considering how well he played relative to the high expectations set for him this season.
The one player who was the most notable omission from the Most Improved Player list—who could have very well replaced Morant—was Warriors guard Jordan Poole.
Poole, who was in the G-League a year ago, emerged as a major rotational piece for the Warriors in the backcourt this season when Klay Thompson and Steph Curry missed time due to injury.
Fans and players alike were not too pleased that he wasn’t included.
The winners of the NBA awards will be announced shortly after the NBA finals in June. Until then, expect plenty of debate from fans, players and media alike.
