NBA Year End Awards

The conclusion to one of the greatest races to the NBA Playoffs has finally arrived.

After the dust settled, we find the Boston Celtics leading the Eastern Conference, which they have done since day one. The Los Angeles Lakers sit atop the Western Conference, a spot the New Orleans Hornets have pretty much occupied for the final quarter of the regular season.

That being said, the time has come to hand out the end of the year awards and to debate and make predictions as to what might go down in the 2007-08 NBA Playoffs.

Starting with the awards...

6th Man Award

This award belongs to Manu Ginobili, and Manu Ginobili only. There isn't any valid reason why any other player should even be considered.

Honorable Mentions: None

Most Improved Player of the Year

This award would have gone to Andrew Bynum had he not become injured, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

For that reason, I pick Hedo Turkoglu for this year's MIPY. I didn't see this coming at all. I always knew he was a good player, but at best a sixth man on any given team. To see him become such a focal part of Orlando's offense is simply astounding.

Honorable Mentions: LeMarcus Aldridge, JR Smith, Andrew Bynum

Coach of the Year

I don't understand why people are saying Doc Rivers deserves credit for turning the Celtics around. If you cannot be first in the pitiful Eastern Conference, you deserve to get fired. Your only serious competition is Detroit and you are playing more than 50 games against teams that wouldn't even make the playoffs if they were in the Western Conference.

The Celtics have three Hall-of-Famers on their team: Pierce, Allen, and Garnett. If they can't turn a team around then they really aren't Hall of Fame players.

The Coach of the Year award should go to Byron Scott. What he has done with the Hornets after last season is remarkable.

Honorable Mention: Phil Jackson—He took the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference with an injured Bynum, Bryant, and Gasol.

Best Defensive Player of the Year

I said it once and I will say it again: Marcus Camby DOES NOT deserve to be DPOY.

Last year should have been Bruce Bowen's year, as he and Tim Duncan partnered up as the "Unforgotten Duo" that won games with their defensive intensity.

A lot of those writers must have never seen Camby play defense last year or they would never have given him the award. He is one of the worst one-on-one defenders in the league. A lot of his blocks come on him leaving his man and going out to block the shot of some 6-foot guard (in short, he is a weak side defender).

This year the DPOY award should go to Kevin Garnett, as he anchored the best defense in the league with the Celtics and did it with the intensity of a man deprived of his most prized possession.

He helped in the development of Big Baby and Perkins, and helped everyone else on his team mold into their respective roles. Garnett finally became to the Celtics what Duncan has been to the Spurs for the past decade. He does it with poise and without the numbers to show for his work, but without him his team would probably not even make the playoffs.

Honorable mentions: Shane Battier—Seen along with Bowen as the two best perimeter defenders in the league; Chris Paul—Master of steals; Ron Artest—The reason why SacTown won so many games; Tim Duncan—The reason why the Spurs are the defending Champs.

Most Valuable Player

Out of all the awards, this is the one that can be most debated about this year. As the season ended, I can only see three men standing tall: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Kevin Garnett.

Garnett has done it all this year and his team is the leading favorite to finally take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy. But, he missed more than 10 games due to the abdominal injury and his team still kept their winning ways. That goes to show that this Celtics team is really deep and, even without their best player, they have the ability to win.

Apart from that, KG still plays in the weaker Eastern Conference. Had the Celtics been in the West their record would have been different.

Chris Paul (aka CP3) and Kobe Bryant (the Black Mamba) have the best chances of winning the MVP award. Paul has shown us that D-Wills (Deron Williams) isn't the only great young point guard coming out of the 2006 draft. He is just as good, if not better then Deron.

Paul led his team to the top of the West, and they only dropped off during the last two days of the season.

Kobe Bryant is as great as he always has been and is finally is getting the recognition for an award he should have won the past two years. He is the best player in the league. Period.

What LeBron did with the Cavaliers in the pitiful Eastern Conference, Kobe Bryant did with the Lakers in the overly competitive Western Conference. This year he finally got the players around him who can help the Lakers make it to the finals, and he did it by sharing the ball.

Just as Dirk got the award last year for being the best player on the best team, Kobe Bryant should finally get the award for being the best player in the NBA.

Finals Prediction

San Antonio over Boston in 7

Tim Duncan vs. Kevin Garnett—who is the greatest PF of this generation?

Both teams are primed to make a long run, and this is their playground. The regular season isn't an indicator of anything. If Suns fans take it as such, they should just talk to the Cavalier fans about what went down last year.

Will Garnett finally bring back the Championship that hasn't been around Boston for almost two decades, or will Tim Duncan finally take his team to the status of a dynasty?

Playoff and finals experience give the Spurs the edge. Hopefully this year's finals will be much more entertaining then last years.

Finals MVP: Manu Ginobili