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2024 NBA Awards

And-Ones: Media Rights, Awards, Hall Of Fame, Lithuania, More

April 30th, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBC is making a strong play for the right to broadcast NBA games beginning in 2025/26, according to Joe Flint, Amol Sharma, and Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). People familiar with the situation tell the WSJ trio that Comcast’s NBCUniversal is prepared to pay $2.5 billion per year for a package of NBA games.

As we wrote last week, Amazon Prime Video is in strong position to become a broadcast partner for the NBA, with ESPN/ABC (Disney) also making good progress in talks.

After operating with just two partners (ESPN/ABC and TNT) in its current media rights deal, the NBA is looking to expand to at least three partners this time around. If Amazon and NBC were to join the mix with Disney, it could leave TNT (Warner Bros. Discovery) on the outside looking in, though the league reportedly hasn’t ruled out making four separate deals.

As Flint, Sharma, and Simonetti detail, TNT Sports paid about $1.2 billion per year for its NBA rights the previous media rights agreement, which will expire after the 2024/25 season. TNT remains involved in negotiations with the league and will have the right to match NBC’s offer, but would be looking at a substantial increase in cost.

If Comcast is able to reach a deal with the NBA, their package would include both regular season and playoff games on NBC and their streaming service Peacock, according to the WSJ report.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • After revealing its Executive of the Year winner on Tuesday, the NBA has two more minor award announcements on tap this week, per the league (Twitter link) — Teammate of the Year will be announced on Wednesday, with the Hustle Award to follow on Thursday.
  • The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame recently announced that its enshrinement ceremony for 2024 has been postponed from August to October, primarily for Olympic-related logistical reasons. Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups are among the headliners of the ’24 class, which was revealed earlier this month.
  • Eight years after being told by a Pistons doctor that he wouldn’t be able to play basketball again due to a back injury, Lithuanian big man Donatas Motiejunas remains active in the EuroLeague and has played in 123 consecutive games. In a conversation with Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (subscription required), Motiejunas discussed how that incident – which resulted in a voided deadline-day trade – changed the trajectory of his professional career.
  • Speaking of Lithuanian big men, Kings center Domantas Sabonis and Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas are both expected to suit up for Lithuania’s national team in their Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico this summer, according to head coach Kazys Maksvytis. Eurohoops has the story, via a report from Lithuanian outlet 15min.lt.
  • With LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry combining for a single playoff win, this spring feels like a passing-of-the-torch moment for the NBA, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic.
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Celtics’ Brad Stevens Named NBA’s Executive Of The Year

April 30th, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).

In his third season as the Celtics’ head of basketball operations after eight years as the team’s head coach, Stevens put together a dominant Boston roster that posted a 64-18 record, easily the best mark in the NBA, along with a +11.7 net rating, the third-best mark in league history.

The Celtics were coming off a 57-win season in 2022/23, but Stevens shook up the roster drastically last summer, trading away longtime defensive stalwart Marcus Smart in a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, then moving key role players Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams in a a blockbuster for Jrue Holiday as training camps got underway.

Stevens also signed several Celtics players to contract extensions in the past 12 months, including Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Holiday.

Unlike the NBA’s other major awards, the Executive of the Year is voted on by 29 team executives from around the league rather than 99 media members. Stevens received 16 of 29 potential first-place votes, along with six second-place votes and three third-place votes, for a total of 101 points (Twitter link).

The runner-up, Sam Presti of the Thunder, had 47 points, including four first-place votes. Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves also earned the top spot on four ballots en route to a third-place finish (29 points).

Knicks president Leon Rose (27 points; one first-place vote) was the only other executive to earn more than 11 points, though Nico Harrison (Mavericks) and Monte McNair (Kings) also received first-place votes, while Rockets general manager Rafael Stone earned a pair of them. A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot.

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Thunder’s Mark Daigneault Named Coach Of Year

April 28th, 2024 at 5:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mark Daigneault of the Thunder has been selected as the NBA’s Coach of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (Twitter link).

Daigneault coached one of the league’s youngest rosters to the top spot in the Western Conference this season, compiling a 57-25 record. It has been a remarkable turnaround in recent years for the Thunder, who won just 24 games in 2021/22 and 40 in ’22/23.

While there was an expectation that Oklahoma City would take another step forward this season, the team’s preseason over/under projection was 44.5 wins — the Thunder surpassed that mark with more than a month left in the season.

Daigneault, who also earned Coach of the Year honors this season from the National Basketball Coaches Association, won the NBA’s official COY award in a landslide, racking up 89 first-place votes, compared to 10 for all the remaining candidates. He had nine second-place votes and one third-place vote for 473 (of a maximum 495) points (Twitter link).

The Magic‘s Jamahl Mosley was the runner-up with four first-place votes and 158 points. Chris Finch of the Timberwolves wound up third with 105 points, followed by the Celtics‘ Joe Mazzulla (79 points) and the Knicks‘ Tom Thibodeau (59 points).

Daigneault, in his fourth season as the Thunder’s head coach, joins Scott Brooks (2009/10) as the only coaches in franchise history to earn the award.

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Stephen Curry Named 2023/24 Clutch Player Of The Year

April 25th, 2024 at 6:45pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry has won the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award for the 2023/24 season, according to an announcement from the league (Twitter link). The Clutch Player of the Year is defined as the player who “best comes through for his teammates in the clutch” during the regular season.

Curry beat out Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan for the honor. In his age-35 season, Curry averaged 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 74 games while shooting 45.0% from the field and 40.8% from beyond the arc on 11.8 attempts per game.

According to Warriors PR, Curry ranked first in points (189), field goals (59) and three-pointers (32) in the clutch this season. Clutch time is defined by the league as the last five minutes of a game in which the score is within five points. He shot 45.7% on three-pointers in clutch scenarios this year and the Warriors went 24-24 in clutch games this season.

Curry received 45 of 99 possible first-place votes and tallied 298 points, with DeRozan finishing as a close runner-up (34 first-place votes; 272 points), per the NBA (Twitter link). Gilgeous-Alexander received 11 first-place votes and 160 points.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic each received first-place votes and rounded out the top six finishers. A total of 15 players showed up on at least one ballot, with Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum also earning one first-place vote apiece.

Curry helped lead the Warriors to the No. 10 seed and a play-in berth before they were eliminated by the Kings.

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Wolves’ Naz Reid Named Sixth Man Of The Year

April 24th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves big man Naz Reid has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced on Wednesday evening (via Twitter).

A former undrafted free agent, Reid averaged 13.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 0.9 BPG on .477/.414/.736 shooting in 81 games this season (24.2 MPG).

Reid is the first player in Timberwolves franchise history to win the Sixth Man award, per a team press release.

The 24-year-old was a major reason why Minnesota didn’t skip a beat when Karl-Anthony Towns was sidelined with a knee injury late in the season. The Wolves went 14-6 without Towns and 56-26 overall, good for the No. 3 seed in the West.

The voting was remarkably close (Twitter link via the NBA). In fact, it was the smallest margin between first- and second-place finishers since the current voting format was implemented 21 years ago, according to the league (via Twitter).

Reid finished with 45 first-place votes, 39 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes for a total of 352 points. Runner-up Malik Monk had the exact same number of second- and third-place votes, but finished with two fewer first-place votes for 342 total points.

Kings guard Monk appeared in 72 games this season for Sacramento, all off the bench. He averaged 15.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 5.1 APG on .443/.350/.829 shooting in 26.0 MPG.

Bucks big man Bobby Portis, who finished third in Sixth Man voting last season, finished a distant third again in ’23/24, receiving 81 total points. He averaged 13.8 PPG and 7.4 RPG on .508/.407/.790 shooting without missing a game this season for Milwaukee (24.5 MPG).

Clippers wing Norman Powell (65 points) and Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (40 points) finished fourth and fifth in voting, respectively. No other player received more than three points.

Powell actually received the most third-place votes of any player, but fewer first- and second-place votes than Portis, which is why he finished behind Milwaukee’s forward/center.

Jose Alvarado, Russell Westbrook, T.J. McConnell, Jonathan Isaac, Jaime Jaquez, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Bojan Bogdanovic all received at least one vote.

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Sixers’ Maxey Named Most Improved Player

April 23rd, 2024 at 6:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for the 2023/24 season, the league’s communications department tweets.

Maxey edged out Bulls guard Coby White for the award. Maxey received 51 of 99 first-place votes while recording 319 voting points. White had just 32 first-place votes, but showed up on more ballots (91) than Maxey (79) and compiled 305 points.

The third finalist, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, was a distant third with six first-place votes and 92 points.

Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson finished fourth and fifth, respectively, according to the NBA, which revealed the full voting results on Twitter.

A total of 14 players appeared on at least one ballot, with Wizards forward Deni Avdija and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton each earning one first-place vote.

Maxey, who is expected to sign a maximum-salary contract this offseason as a restricted free agent, ranked 11th in the NBA in points per game (+5.6 PPG from last season) and 20th in assists per game (+2.7 APG from last season). The first-time All-Star also made a career-high 212 three-pointers, up from 160 last season.

Maxey recorded three games of 50 or more points, tied for the most in the NBA. Those were the first 50-point games of his four-year career.

Maxey is the first member of the Sixers to win the award since Dana Barros was the leading vote-getter for the 1994/95 season.

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And-Ones: Postseason Awards, Fernandez, SLC Summer League, Players’ Poll

April 22nd, 2024 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA revealed the finalists for seven postseason awards on Sunday. The league will begin announcing the winners on Tuesday, the NBA’s communications department tweets.

The Most Improved Player award will be announced on Tuesday. Tyrese Maxey, Alperen Sengun and Coby White are the finalists. The Sixth Man of the Year award winner will be revealed on Wednesday, followed by the Clutch Player of the Year (Thursday) and Coach of the Year (Sunday).

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The Nets’ hiring of Jordi Fernandez as their head coach won’t affect his status with Team Canada. Fernandez will coach their national team at the Paris Olympics, Canada Basketball tweets.
  • The Salt Lake City Summer League will take place July 8-10 at the Jazz’s Delta Center, according to a press release. The Jazz, Grizzlies, Thunder and Sixers will once again compete in the round-robin summer showcase, which precedes the Las Vegas Summer League.
  • The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Josh Robbins compiled poll results from 142 NBA players on a variety of topics. Nikola Jokic topped Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP, while Michael Jordan edged out LeBron James for Greatest Player of All Time. A majority of the players chose James Johnson as the player they’d least like to fight.
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Poll: Who Should Win 2023/24 NBA Awards?

April 22nd, 2024 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced the 2023/24 finalists for its seven major awards on Sunday, revealing the top three vote-getters for Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the newly added Clutch Player of the Year.

Some of these awards have felt like foregone conclusions for a while, but some results could be genuine surprises when they’re revealed beginning this week.

Today though, we’re not focusing on which players will win the awards, but the ones you believe should win them. Select your winners for this year’s major NBA awards in the seven polls below, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.

Our polls only include the three finalists in each category, but if you think someone else deserves to win one of these awards, be sure to use the comment section to “write in” that pick and explain your reasoning.

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Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic Named MVP Finalists

April 21st, 2024 at 6:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were revealed on Sunday as the finalists for the Most Valuable Player award, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

Doncic led the league in scoring (33.9 points per game) and finished second in assists (9.8) while also grabbing 9.2 rebounds per contest. Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference by averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals per contest. Jokic, who is widely considered the favorite to win his third MVP trophy, averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists per night.

The NBA also announced the finalists for six other postseason awards. Here are the finalists for all of those awards:

Most Valuable Player

Sixth Man

Defensive Player of the Year

Most Improved Player

Note: Sengun appeared in just 63 games but was eligible for award consideration based on the season-ending injury exception described in our glossary entry on the 65-game rule.

Coach of the Year

  • Mark Daigneault, Thunder
  • Chris Finch, Timberwolves
  • Jamahl Mosley, Magic

Rookie of the Year

Clutch Player of the Year

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NBA Announces Finalists For Sportsmanship, Teammate Of The Year Awards

April 2nd, 2024 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced the 2023/24 finalists for a pair of awards on Tuesday, naming the six players who are eligible to win the Sportsmanship Award for this season, as well as the 12 players who are in the running for Teammate of the Year honors.

The Sportsmanship Award honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” per the NBA. Each of the league’s 30 teams nominated one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.

The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. This season’s finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

None of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award have earned the honor in the past, so the 2023/24 winner will be a first-timer. Mike Conley won the award last year for a record fourth time.

Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2023/24. According to the league, the player selected for the honor is “deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”

The voting process is similar to the Sportsmanship Award — a panel of league executives selects 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, then current players vote on the winner.

Like Conley with the Sportsmanship Award, last season’s Teammate of the Year – Jrue Holiday – has the record for most times winning the award (three), but isn’t among the finalists for 2023/24. Of this season’s 12 finalists, the only one to take home the award in the past is Conley, who claimed it in 2019.

The Teammate of the Year finalists finalists are as follows (via Twitter):

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