Tim Ajmani
The Corsair
With All-Star weekend right around the corner, the 2011-2012 NBA season is about halfway done. Of course, this is no ordinary season; the lockout forced teams into a condensed sixty-six game schedule. The quality of basketball has degraded considerably. There are more blowouts and sloppy games in this season than I’ve seen in a NBA season in quite some time. Now, with that being said, this season has had some incredible moments and produced amazing stories.
The Miami Heat, fresh off of a disappointing performance in last year’s NBA Finals, have ran through their schedule and have the best record in the league, tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New York Knicks have risen back into relevance, thanks to the impressive rise by point guard Jeremy Lin. The Western Conference in its totality has been so competitive that nearly every team in the top eight is one or two games back from the team in front of it. Despite the effect of the lockout, the NBA is still one of best sports leagues in the entire world.
So without further ado, here are my midseason NBA awards predictions…
MVP (Most Valuable Player) – LeBron James (Miami Heat)
Most Improved Player – Jeremy Lin (New York Knicks)
Coach of the Year – Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs)
Rookie of the Year – Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Sixth Man of the Year – James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Defensive Player of the Year – Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls)