It is this Friday evening that we will know the names of the 3 finalists for each individual trophy. If the MVP is obviously eagerly awaited, the one concerning the ROY leaves no room for suspense and yet… it gave rise to a huge scandal on social networks. A star was even indignant.
As the play-in ends this Friday evening, with the start of the playoffs in a few days, the NBA is also preparing to reveal the big winners of the individual trophies. The MVP will probably be played between Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, with an advantage for the Sixers pivot. For the other rewards, the competition is not as present.
The ROY caused a scandal among the fans!
This is the case for example with regard to the rookie of the year. Crushing the competition with his 20 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists, Paolo Banchero will win the trophy in just a few days and we can say that it will be deserved. The Magic player flew over the debates, even if a journalist, named Andy Larsen, decided to vote for someone else.
Paolo banchero misses unanimous Roy by one! pic.twitter.com/BvUR6X3Hlh
— Dom2K ???????? (@Dom_2k) April 14, 2023
Paolo Banchero missed the unanimous vote for rookie of the year for one!
Banchero could have written the story, but Larsen decided otherwise. He quickly wanted to explain himself, since the Jazz journalist voted for… Walker Kessler, Utah pivot. Worse ? Banchero is only third, preceded by Jalen Williams, the rookie of the Thunder.
Basically… the advanced stats all favor Kessler, and I’ve always been an analytically-oriented voter. I think I would have made this vote even if I covered another team.
Here’s where the rookies rank in EPM, and here’s what I wrote in explaining my vote. pic.twitter.com/bmYd0RQEwI
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 14, 2023
Concretely, the advanced statistics are all in favor of Kessler, and I have always been turned to the data to vote. I think I would have made this choice even if I was covering another team.
It must be recognized that Kessler had a great campaign at the Jazz, with 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. It’s very good for a rookie, but from there to winning the trophy? Probably not according to the fans. Kyle Kuzma also approves of the idea, since he is visibly annoyed:
Yepppp this is embarrassing… https://t.co/fcCxwXWmfd
— autumn (@kylekuzma) April 14, 2023
Yeah that’s embarrassing…
Paolo Banchero will win the rookie of the year trophy after a great individual season at the Magic, but not with all the votes from journalists. What annoy many people, including Kyle Kuzma. Not sure that the person in question will be invited to vote in the next campaigns…
