| Monday, April 17
By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com |
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|  | | It's just been one of those seasons for Vin Baker, once upon a time an All-Star. |
I know the season is not over, but I can't imagine too much changing
between today and Wednesday, at least not enough to sway me from the awards I
am about to bestow.
Yes, it's that time of year when we take a look back at the season's
biggest accomplishments, mind-numbing as they may seem, and hand out the
hardware that goes along with such distinguished performances.
So, without further ado:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Vin Baker, Seattle SuperSonics
It's easy to get a Most Valuable Player award. Any number of guys can do
it. Shaquille O'Neal comes immediately to mind, but so too do Kevin Garnett,
Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd. Putting up big numbers? No big deal in my
book. But how many players can become a complete shell of what they once
were. In two years, I have witnessed Baker go from a four-time All-Star
player to a cowering inferno. Not even 700 days removed from signing an $87
million contract, Baker now is coming off the bench for the Sonics. The other
night, he totaled four points and one rebound in 14 minutes. He recently got
abused by John Salley. He took seven shots against the Denver Nuggets and had
three blocked by Antonio McDyess. Shaq went from what, 28 points a game to
31? Eleven rebounds a game to 13? He's got nothing on what Baker has done.
Runners-up: Isaiah Rider, Released from the Atlanta Hawks; Isaac Austin,
Soon to be released from the Washington Wizards.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Jim Todd, Los Angeles Clippers.
Interim coaches are not supposed to take a team from losing to the
championship, but they are at least supposed to maintain some solid play, if
not show improvement. Darrell Walker has done it in Washington, George Irvine
in Detroit, Lionel Hollins in Vancouver, Scott Skiles in Phoenix. Somehow,
unbelievably, cataclysmically, Todd had managed to make the Clippers worse
-- just when nobody thought they could get there. Under Chris Ford, the Paper
Clips were 11-34. Under Todd, they are 3-30. And Todd still is optimistic. "We're trying to do things to get us to be more consistent," Todd said recently.
"We want our guys to get better even
though we only have a few weeks to go. I want us to play like a team, look
like a team and play hard. I think we've been doing that." Anybody that
disillusioned gets my vote.
Runners-up: Rick Pitino, Boston Celtics; Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Gheorghe Muresan, New Jersey Nets.
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Other than the fact that he is my favorite player because he is one of the
most likeable people -- basketball or non-basketball -- I have ever met, and
the biggest kid I have ever known, the fact that he is even out on the floor
is a testament to his nature. When I first met him, the guy couldn't chew
gum, much less walk and chew gum. With his thyroid disease, he's lucky he can
walk at all. So as long as he is wearing a uniform, he gets my vote, because
at one point he could not dribble, not shoot, not run, not rebound. I'm not
saying the guy is the total package, but that he is a package at all is a
major improvement. He recently had a son with his wife, Liliana. When I saw
him this season, I asked him, "Gheorghe, how big was your baby." "Twenty-one
pounds," he said. Maybe Gheorghe's wife should get MVP.
Runners-Up: Jim McIlvaine, New Jersey Nets; Jamie Feick, New Jersey Nets.
(Imagine how bad the Nets would be if they didn't have so much improvement).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jason Williams, Sacramento Kings.
He's so good, he defends his own team -- for the opponent. Watch him.
He'll come down the court, and suddenly throw the ball 19 rows up into the
stands. He does it like, what, six times a game. Like David Dupree in USA
Today, I like to come up with my own stats. I call that the reverse steal.
And Williams has a lot of them. When you lead the league in reverse steals,
you should win this award.
Runners-up: Charles Oakley, Toronto Raptors (At least once a game, he
throws a behind-the-back pass into the first row of luxury suites); Chris
Gatling, Denver Nuggets ( I was told by one player that his breath is so bad,
nobody wants to get the ball because they don't want him close enough to
guard them.)
TWELFTH MAN: Keith Closs, Los Angeles Clippers.
I'm renaming the Sixth Man Award. I figure if you are the worst player on
the worst team in the league, you deserve some sort of award. This is the
truth: Closs is so disinterested in his role with the Clippers, he spends
more time in the opponents' locker room than he does the Clips'. And as soon
as he leaves, an entire army of players looks at him and immediately says,
"THAT guy got $21 million."
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Trajan Langdon, Cleveland Cavaliers.
I don't want to flaunt my player personnel skills, but if you go back to
last season's draft, I KNEW Langdon was not going to be an NBA player. And
the Cavs wasted a high first-rounder on him. So let's give him an award while
he's still in the league, because it's only a matter of time before he's
gonzo.
Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. |  |
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