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While you occasionally hear calls for reform in who selects the NBA's annual postseason awards--perhaps more of them this year after Charlotte color analyst Dell Curry had his vote for Rookie of the Year stripped because his son (Stephen Curry) was one of the leading candidates--they rarely include the voice of the fans. The one vote fans were given for MVP this year through NBA.com polling is the token exception.
Given the results of All-Star voting, this probably isn't such a bad thing, but that doesn't mean that intelligent, well-informed fans can't do a good job of selecting awards. That's the premise behind the Internet Baseball Awards, which have run for many years on Baseball Prospectus, and this year Basketball Prospectus decided to bring it to the NBA with the first annual Internet Basketball Awards.
Over a week's time, fans voted on Basketball Prospectus for all seven major awards (including Executive of the Year, which is chosen by GMs and not the media) and the All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie Teams. In total, we received 432 ballots, which is great response for the first year. Thanks to all of you who voted. In general, I think and I hope you'll agree that the results show the fans doing as good a job if not a better one than done by the media, although the open-ended All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams showed people may still want to work on spelling Dwyane Wade's name.
To the results ...
2009-10 IBA Most Valuable Player: LeBron James, Cleveland
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts
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1 LeBron James, Cleveland 361 35 12 3 5 3929
2 Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City 29 203 103 33 13 2338
3 Dwight Howard, Orlando 12 88 120 75 24 1585
4 Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 4 32 45 73 63 771
5 Dwyane Wade, Miami 2 22 49 67 54 674
6 Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 3 12 18 34 62 368
7 Steve Nash, Phoenix 6 9 21 33 40 367
8 Carmelo Anthony, Denver 1 7 11 18 26 194
9 Deron Williams, Utah 0 2 8 19 40 151
10 Josh Smith, Atlanta 8 1 4 9 16 150
11 Brandon Roy, Portland 1 4 4 5 6 79
12 Rajon Rondo, Boston 1 3 4 4 6 69
13 Tim Duncan, San Antonio 0 0 5 10 14 69
14 Amar'e Stoudemire, Phoenix 1 2 4 3 6 59
15 Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers 0 2 3 2 8 43
16 Chris Bosh, Toronto 0 1 1 7 9 42
17 Chris Paul, New Orleans 0 0 6 3 1 40
18 Chauncey Billups, Denver 0 1 2 5 3 35
19 Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 1 0 0 1 1 14
20 Jamal Crawford, Atlanta 0 1 0 0 0 7
21 Carlos Boozer, Utah 0 0 0 1 2 5
22 Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee 0 0 0 1 0 3
Voting on a 10-7-5-3-1 basis
I was kind of hoping that LeBron James would be a unanimous MVP selection, but given the breadth of the voting pool--and the desire of fans of players like Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard to make a statement on their fine seasons--that was unrealistic. As it was, James got 83.9 percent of the first-place votes and was a runaway winner. Durant finished second after his breakthrough season. I was a little surprised Dwyane Wade was so far below Durant and Howard, finishing behind Kobe Bryant as well. Also, Josh Smith was extraordinarily popular with some fans, getting the fourth-highest total of first-place votes with eight.
2009-10 IBA Rookie of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Sacramento
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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1 Tyreke Evans, Sacramento 255 100 31 1606
2 Stephen Curry, Golden State 89 176 95 1068
3 Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee 54 95 155 710
4 DeJuan Blair, San Antonio 11 18 39 148
5 Darren Collison, New Orleans 4 16 46 114
6 Taj Gibson, Chicago 3 3 8 32
7 Ty Lawson, Denver 1 2 13 24
8 Marcus Thornton, New Orleans 1 2 9 20
9 James Harden, Oklahoma City 0 1 11 14
10 Omri Casspi, Sacramento 1 0 1 6
11 Jeff Teague, Atlanta 1 0 0 5
12 Dante Cunningham, Portland 0 1 0 3
13 Wesley Matthews, Utah 0 0 3 3
14 Rodrigue Beaubois, Dallas 0 0 1 1
Voting on a 5-3-1 basis
Apparently Bradford Doolittle's impassioned plea for Brandon Jennings and my selection of the Milwaukee Bucks guard as my Rookie of the Year failed to inspire voters, who had Jennings as a clear third in this race. It sounds like Curry might give Tyreke Evans a run for the actual award, but Evans dominated this voting, getting 60.7 percent of the first-place votes.
2009-10 IBA Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard, Orlando
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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1 Dwight Howard, Orlando 294 64 22 1684
2 Josh Smith, Atlanta 48 66 69 507
3 Gerald Wallace, Charlotte 19 54 60 317
4 Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee 9 49 48 240
5 Anderson Varejao, Cleveland 9 48 33 222
6 Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City 12 32 45 201
7 Marcus Camby, Portland 13 25 20 160
8 Rajon Rondo, Boston 5 30 34 149
9 Ron Artest, L.A. Lakers 4 8 11 55
10 Tim Duncan, San Antonio 1 10 14 49
11 Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 1 9 15 47
12 Kevin Garnett, Boston 1 8 12 41
13 LeBron James, Cleveland 4 3 8 37
14 Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 2 4 5 27
15 Shane Battier, Houston 1 0 0 5
16 Shawn Marion, Dallas 1 0 0 5
17 Ben Wallace, Detroit 0 1 0 3
18 Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City 0 1 0 3
19 Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 0 0 1 1
20 Nicolas Batum, Portland 0 0 1 1
21 Omri Casspi, Sacramento 0 0 1 1
Voting on a 5-3-1 basis
No question here: Howard is clearly the Defensive Player of the Year, getting more than three times as many points as any other player. The actual results also featured Smith and Gerald Wallace in second and third, but from there I think the fan ballot is an upgrade on the media's selections. Andrew Bogut actually finished seventh and Anderson Varejao ninth, and nobody voted for David Lee. (As for the Omri Casspi vote, I'm assuming that's just a really passionate Kings fan.)
2009-10 IBA Sixth Man Award: Jamal Crawford, Atlanta
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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1 Jamal Crawford, Atlanta 226 78 42 1406
2 Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 86 88 63 757
3 Anderson Varejao, Cleveland 51 101 72 630
4 Lamar Odom, L.A. Lakers 26 39 49 296
5 Jason Terry, Dallas 6 50 77 257
6 Kevin Love, Minnesota 14 16 34 152
7 Paul Millsap, Utah 6 17 25 106
8 Luke Ridnour, Milwaukee 6 8 17 71
9 Chris Andersen, Denver 0 10 18 48
10 Carl Landry, Sacramento 1 1 0 8
11 Udonis Haslem, Miami 0 0 1 1
12 J.J. Redick, Orlando 0 0 1 1
13 J.R. Smith, Denver 0 0 1 1
Voting on a 5-3-1 basis
I kind of figured the voting for this award would be closer, but with many fans uncertain whether Manu Ginobili merited Sixth Man accolades while he's currently starting for the Spurs, Jamal Crawford easily outdistanced the rest of the field. My selection, Varejao, finished in third.
2009-10 IBA Most Improved Player: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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1 Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City 149 45 47 927
2 Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee 64 89 50 637
3 Aaron Brooks, Houston 64 46 58 516
4 Marc Gasol, Memphis 42 66 59 467
5 Gerald Wallace, Charlotte 33 38 48 327
6 Robin Lopez, Phoenix 13 36 41 214
7 George Hill, San Antonio 7 32 48 179
8 David Lee, New York 19 16 15 158
9 Roy Hibbert, Indiana 3 9 10 52
10 Josh Smith, Atlanta 5 1 1 29
11 Joakim Noah, Chicago 2 1 1 14
12 Russell Westbrook, OK City 1 2 1 12
13 Corey Brewer, Minnesota 1 0 1 6
14 Goran Dragic, Phoenix 1 0 1 6
15 Nicolas Batum, Portland 1 0 0 5
16 J.J. Redick, Orlando 0 1 1 4
17 Zach Randolph, Memphis 0 1 1 4
18 Al Horford, Atlanta 0 1 0 3
19 Anderson Varejao, Cleveland 0 1 0 3
20 Danilo Gallinari, New York 0 1 0 3
21 Donté Greene, Sacramento 0 1 0 3
22 Channing Frye, Phoenix 0 0 1 1
23 J.J. Hickson, Cleveland 0 0 1 1
24 Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 0 0 1 1
Voting on a 5-3-1 basis
Of the awards announced or leaked so far, this is the only one on which the Internet Basketball Awards voters differed from their media peers. While reports yesterday indicated that Aaron Brooks is the Most Improved Player, he finished third in IBA voting, behind not only Durant but also Bogut. As befits the muddled nature of this award, support was split among many players. There were more ballots that left Durant off entirely than picked him first.
2009-10 IBA Coach of the Year: Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City
Rk Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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1 Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City 136 122 52 1098
2 Scott Skiles, Milwaukee 96 104 48 840
3 Nate McMillan, Portland 68 36 66 514
4 Jerry Sloan, Utah 30 28 41 275
5 Larry Brown, Charlotte 15 33 43 217
6 Mike Woodson, Atlanta 24 7 16 157
7 Alvin Gentry, Phoenix 12 18 39 153
8 Lionel Hollins, Memphis 6 15 35 110
9 Stan Van Gundy, Orlando 7 14 8 85
10 Mike Brown, Cleveland 7 8 13 72
11 Rick Carlisle, Dallas 5 6 8 51
12 Gregg Popovich, San Antonio 2 4 10 32
13 Phil Jackson, L.A. Lakers 3 2 3 24
14 Erik Spoelstra, Miami 0 5 9 24
15 Rick Adelman, Houston 2 0 2 12
16 Vinny Del Negro, Chicago 1 0 0 5
17 George Karl, Denver 1 0 0 5
18 Doc Rivers, Boston 1 0 0 5
In a battle of the Scotts, Scott Brooks edged Scott Skiles to earn the Internet Basketball Awards Coach of the Year to go along with the real trophy he was awarded yesterday. Brooks had the most first-place votes and the most second-place votes, so clearly fans were impressed with his work on the sidelines for the Thunder. Nate McMillan, who finished third, was a bit more divisive, generating more first-place votes than selections in either second or third.
Also, I'm hoping the Vinny Del Negro first-place vote was a joke. I suspect not even the Bulls coach would say he's been the best coach in the league this year.
2009-10 IBA Executive of the Year: Sam Presti, Oklahoma City
Presti's work turning the Thunder from a cellar-dweller to a playoff team in two years earned him Executive of the Year honors in a tight race with Milwaukee's John Hammond. Apparently this was destined to be a clean sweep of the non-player awards, since I picked a pair of Bucks (Hammond and Skiles). After the top two, the results surprised me. Cleveland's Danny Ferry and APBRmetric favorite Daryl Morey tied for third. I figured Portland Trail Blazers fans might dominate the voting and back their beloved Kevin Pritchard, but neither was the case. Though not everyone filled out the favorite team that was the last question on the ballot, Blazers fans finished behind Celtics and Knicks supporters and Pritchard tied for fifth with Dallas' Donnie Nelson.
By the way, the least-supported team among IBA voters was the New Orleans Hornets, with a single lonely voter self-identifying as a Hornets fan.
Vote totals: Sam Presti, Oklahoma City (104); John Hammond, Milwaukee (84); Danny Ferry, Cleveland (36); Daryl Morey, Houston (36); Donnie Nelson, Dallas (32); Kevin Pritchard, Portland (32); Rick Sund, Atlanta (23); Michael Jordan, Charlotte (11); Otis Smith, Orlando (8); Mitch Kupchak, L.A. Lakers (7); Chris Wallace, Memphis (6); Donnie Walsh, New York (4); Steve Kerr, Phoenix (4); Geoff Petrie, Sacramento (4); Mark Warkentien, Denver (3); Neil Olshey, L.A. Clippers (2); R.C. Buford, San Antonio (2); Kevin O'Connor, Utah (2); Danny Ainge, Boston (1); Gar Forman, Chicago (1); Larry Riley, Golden State (1); Pat Riley, Miami (1); Jeff Bower, New Orleans (1); Ernie Grunfeld, Washington (1)
2009-10 IBA All-NBA Teams
Ps Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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G Dwyane Wade, Miami 170 49 6 1003
G Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 145 60 7 912
F LeBron James, Cleveland 227 2 1 1142
F Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City 185 35 4 1034
C Dwight Howard, Orlando 217 7 2 1108
Ps Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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G Steve Nash, Phoenix 63 111 31 679
G Deron Williams, Utah 52 110 27 617
F Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 30 133 31 580
F Carmelo Anthony, Denver 13 89 34 366
C Tim Duncan, San Antonio 12 92 57 393
Ps Player 1st 2nd 3rd Pts
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G Rajon Rondo, Boston 7 26 72 185
G Brandon Roy, Portland 3 16 79 142
F Chris Bosh, Toronto 9 51 66 264
F Amar'e Stoudemire, Phoenix 4 53 43 222
C Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers 8 49 61 248
Voting here more or less went as I expect it will when the actual All-NBA Teams are announced. The one slight surprise was Brandon Roy making the Third Team. The guard vote was much more split than selections at other positions, so both Bogut and Smith actually had more points than Roy, who edged out Chris Paul, Joe Johnson and Manu Ginobili.
Also, I'm not sure whether to be impressed or saddened that one Hawks fan took the time to vote for every player on the roster.
Also receiving votes: Andrew Bogut (1) 208; Josh Smith (6) 175; Chris Paul (7) 107; Joe Johnson (3) 105; Manu Ginobili (3) 91; Gerald Wallace (2) 83; David Lee (1) 66; Chauncey Billups 48; Al Horford (2) 47; Derrick Rose (3) 43; Zach Randolph 34; Jason Kidd (2) 26; Carlos Boozer 25; Paul Pierce 20; Joakim Noah (2) 18; Kevin Garnett 16; Chris Kaman (1) 15; Brook Lopez 14; Jamal Crawford (1) 13; Tyreke Evans 10; Anderson Varejao 9; Nenê 8; Stephen Jackson 6; LaMarcus Aldridge 5; Jameer Nelson (1) 5; Rashard Lewis (1) 5; Marvin Williams (1) 5; Mike Bibby (1) 5; Danny Granger 4; Monta Ellis 4; Marc Gasol 3; Andrei Kirilenko 3; Brandon Jennings 3; Maurice Evans 3; Joe Smith 3; Jeff Teague 3; Andrew Bynum 2; Marcus Camby 2; Russell Westbrook 2; Andre Iguodala 1; Andre Miller 1; Brendan Haywood 1; Darren Collison 1; Jason Collins 1; Jeff Green 1; Kevin Love 1; Mario West 1; Mo Williams 1; Randolph Morris 1; Ray Allen 1; Shaquille O'Neal 1; Stephen Curry 1
2009-10 IBA All-Defensive Teams
Ps Player 1st 2nd Pts
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G Rajon Rondo, Boston 151 24 326
G Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City 75 40 190
F Josh Smith, Atlanta 94 35 223
F Gerald Wallace, Charlotte 87 48 222
C Dwight Howard, Orlando 189 3 381
Ps Player 1st 2nd Pts
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G Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 48 55 151
G Dwyane Wade, Miami 59 50 168
F LeBron James, Cleveland 75 48 198
F Anderson Varejao, Cleveland 34 31 99
C Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee 4 101 109
Even though neither of my First Team forwards (Kevin Garnett or Andrei Kirilenko) made either team, these selections are pretty solid. In particular, Thabo Sefolosha got the love for his work as a perimeter stopper; I suspect either Bryant or Wade will probably edge him out to make the actual All-Defensive First Team.
Also receiving votes: Tim Duncan (23) 74; Ron Artest (22) 69; Kevin Garnett (12) 48; Andrei Kirilenko (16) 46; Shane Battier (12) 36; Marcus Camby (3) 34; Jason Kidd (5) 26; Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (3) 21; Deron Williams (5) 20; Russell Westbrook (4) 20; Chris Paul (4) 17; Kevin Durant (4) 16; Raymond Felton (1) 15; Nicolas Batum (3) 14; Arron Afflalo (3) 13; Brandon Jennings (2) 13; Chauncey Billups (4) 13; Joakim Noah (2) 10; Kirk Hinrich (3) 10; Stephen Jackson (2) 10; Trevor Ariza (1) 8; Andre Iguodala (1) 7; Andre Miller 6; Kendrick Perkins 6; Lamar Odom 6; Stephen Curry (1) 6; Brendan Haywood 5; Manu Ginobili 5; Pau Gasol 5; Al Horford (1) 4; Carlos Delfino 4; George Hill 4; Matt Barnes (2) 4; Carlos Boozer (1) 3; Chris Bosh (1) 3; Joe Johnson (1) 3; Mickael Pietrus (1) 3; Monta Ellis 3; Shawn Marion (1) 3; Steve Nash 3; Aaron Brooks 2; Ben Wallace 2; Brandon Roy 2; Derrick Rose 2; Kenyon Martin 2; O.J. Mayo 2; Chuck Hayes (1) 2; Jonas Jerebko (1) 2; Keith Bogans (1) 2; Pops Mensah-Bonsu (1) 2; Andrea Bargnani 1; Anthony Parker 1; Carl Landry 1; Caron Butler 1; Chris Andersen 1; Corey Brewer 1; David Lee 1; Delonte West 1; Emeka Okafor 1; Jared Jeffries 1; Kyle Lowry 1; Luis Scola 1; Martell Webster 1; Nenê 1; Robin Lopez 1; Toney Douglas 1; Tyreke Evans 1;
2009-10 IBA All-Rookie Teams
Player 1st 2nd Pts
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Tyreke Evans, Sacramento 182 0 364
Stephen Curry, Golden State 173 5 351
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee 166 8 340
DeJuan Blair, San Antonio 104 54 262
Darren Collison, New Orleans 110 41 261
Player 1st 2nd Pts
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Marcus Thornton, New Orleans 41 90 172
Taj Gibson, Chicago 38 60 136
James Harden, Oklahoma City 18 95 131
Ty Lawson, Denver 21 84 126
Omri Casspi, Sacramento 12 58 82
The trio of Evans, Curry and Jennings appeared on virtually every ballot. In fact, most of the voting was stratified here. DeJuan Blair and Darren Collison were in the next group, followed by Marcus Thornton all by himself and then the trio of Taj Gibson, James Harden and Ty Lawson. Omri Casspi narrowly edged out Jonas Jerebko for the last spot on the Second Team.
Also receiving votes: Jonas Jerebko (6) 79; Jonny Flynn (3) 47; Serge Ibaka (5) 42; Wesley Matthews (3) 30; Rodrigue Beaubois (3) 25; Chase Budinger (1) 20; Jrue Holiday (1) 18; Terrence Williams 16; Reggie Williams 12; DeMar DeRozan (1) 11; Eric Maynor 7; Toney Douglas 5; Hasheem Thabeet (1) 4; Dante Cunningham 2; Jeff Teague 2; Austin Daye 1; Byron Mullens 1; Daniel Green 1; Jordan Hill 1
Thanks again to everyone who voted and stay tuned next April for the second annual incarnation of the Internet Basketball Awards.
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @kpelton.
Kevin Pelton is an author of Basketball Prospectus.
You can contact Kevin by clicking here or click here to see Kevin's other articles.
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