As I was reading through the "This Season's MVP?" thread, I couldn't help but notice that one of the underlying themes was that a team's record made a difference in determining the winner of the award in many people's eyes. It brought me back to a pre-All-Star game halftime on TNT where Gary Payton, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber were debating the merits of certain players and again the underlying factor was team record.
So, I ask. Should team record be a determining factor on individual awards?
Many people this year are going to automatically narrow down the MVP to Kobe and LeBron because their teams are extremely successful and because Kobe and LeBron are great players putting up great stats on great teams. But it could be argued that Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul are actually having better statistical seasons than Kobe and LeBron and are much more valuable to their teams than either of the one name stars are to theirs. They have less talent around the so they probably should have teams with worse records.
Should CP3 and Wade's amazing years be ignored simply because their teams aren't that good(Miami) or have had a slip back in record and standing(New Orleans)? Another example is the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Ask anyone over the last five years who the NBA's best defensive player is and the name you will probably have heard more than any other was Ron Artest. But he's only won one DPOY award. That would be back when he played in Indiana in 2003-04, the last time he was on a good team. This year Artest is once again on a good team and will most probably get a bunch of votes for DPOY. Which factor has been more important in Artest not getting the recognition since 2004, the quality of his defense or the quality of his teams?
Did Big Al Jefferson not make the ASG because he was on a bad team? Last year, Hedo Turkoglu won MIP but did he really improve more than a player like Chris Kaman, who took a giant leap forward with his game last year or did Kaman just get passed over because he was on a bad team? The seasons before, Boris Diaw and Monta Ellis were winners in the MIP category and were on good teams those years. Did Ellis really improve more than a player like Kevin Martin or did he just play on a better team? The same could be said about Diaw and David West who took a huge leap forward that year.
I think there is ample evidence to support the fact that NBA awards' voters take team success into account in the awarding of just about every accolade there is in the NBA except Rookie of the Year. But should they?
I, for one, think it shouldn't because players can not determine the players on their teams, the coaches on their teams or the players that get played. They can only do their part as best they can and attempt to influence the outcome of a game as much as they can. But basketball is a team game and as the 60's Celtics proved, one player, no matter how great, can never beat a team of 5.
It could be, much of Diaw's and Ellis' and Turkoglu's improvement could be attributable to the quality of the players they were playing with. On the other hand, it could also be argued that players on bad teams get more opportunity to shoot and dominate play, thereby racking up better numbers and appearing to be better than they are. Of course, the counter is those players on those teams are garnering more attention by other teams to stop them because they are one of only a couple of good players on that team so their success is even more impressive. The same argument could be created about the MVP award.
I think the award voters need to start taking into effect every improved player and every valuable player and every defensive player and stop eliminating players based solely on the teams record. It's great to award champions but that's what championship rings and the Larry O'Brien Award are for. Its time to stop ignoring deserving players of awards simply because they have the bad luck of having been on a team with no talent or a horrible coach or a truly bad GM. Individual awards are just that, individual and when determining the winners of individual awards, its time to take the team out of the determination of those individual awards.
EDIT: And don't even get me going on the Nash MVPs.
Topic: Should team record be a determining factor on individual awards? (Read 3235 times)