The results of the 2017 Players Voice Awards have been announced, and as was the case last year, the union opted against holding a glitzy affair for the purpose. It’s a conscious decision on the part of the organization under Executive Director Michele Roberts; having seen how members mostly stayed away from the inaugural festivities in 2015, the leadership felt its interests would be better served by instead using social media to identify the winners — and they’re right, especially with the league itself just going the Oscars route in late June.
To be sure, the National Basketball Players Association’s (NBPA) tweets generated few surprises. Russell Westbrook and Malcolm Brogdon, named Most Valuable Player and Best Rookie, once again headed the individual awards. Not that there weren’t any differences; Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams — and not official winners Draymond Green and Eric Gordon — claimed Best Defender and Best Off the Bench honors, while Gregg Popovich, and not reigning Coach of the Year Mike D’Antoni — earned the distinction of Coach You’d Most Like to Play For. Still, there were no earth-shaking developments.
As in previous polls, the NBPA thought to ask members on who they deemed was the Hardest to Guard (Westbrook) and the Clutch Performer (Isaiah Thomas). Interestingly, they adjudged LeBron James the Player You Secretly Wish Was On Your Team; meanwhile, Kyrie Irving, with whom he starred in the last three NBA Finals series, went to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and asked to be traded in order to get away from him.
Granted, the NBPA voting results do little more than validate — or, in some cases, repudiate — the league’s awards, and, by extension, the media. On the other hand, there can be no denying the interest it elicits. And because there really is no offseason for players anymore, it helps boost their profile, and, in the final analysis, justifies their worth.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
