Hornets Fan Vote Reveals MVP, Future Stars and the Team's Most Chaotic Personalities
We asked, you answered, and now, we can officially reveal the results for the Charlotte Hornets' batch of year-end awards!
Shout-out to everyone who participated. You played a pivotal role in helping us dole out invaluable hardware. From the Hornets' MVP and most underrated player to their best trash-talker and zombie apocalypse savior, you covered all the most important bases.
So, who won each category? Let's get to the big reveals.
Stats accurate as of Sunday, April 12. Contract data via Spotrac.
Who Is the Most Valuable Player?
1 of 10
Winner: LaMelo Ball
Salutations to the 72 percent of Hornets fans who get it. As for the other 28 percent of ya'll, it's time #TheTalk.
Twist yourself into a pretzel attempting to choose someone other than LaMelo Ball if you see fit. Roller-coaster moments and all, his impact on the offense speaks for itself.
Forced to choose an alternative, Kon Knueppel or Brandon Miller is the guy. And for what it's worth, Charlotte's offense has tread water when the rookie plays without LaMelo.
Who Is Most Underrated?
2 of 10
Winner: Moussa Diabaté
Nice.
With 69 percent of the vote, Moussa Diabaté takes the "Most Underrated" cake. Rightfully so, too. Remember when virtually everyone wrote off the Hornets' big-man rotation? It feels like forever ago, largely thanks to the relentless efforts of him.
Ryan Kalkbrenner (8 percent) and a healthy Grant Williams (8 percent) have been part of the solution as well. Yet, while Sion James' spot in the rotation is fungible, the defensive intensity is convincing enough to play him even when the three-ball doesn't find nylon. We should all support him finishing in second place (13 percent).
Who Is the Best Athlete?
3 of 10
Winner: Brandon Miller
Brandon Miller at once has more vicious jams than you think and still not enough. It's the "still not enough" part that prevented him from edging out Miles Bridges by a margin larger than 48 percent to 42 percent.
Tidjane Salaün's athleticism getting just 2 percent of the vote is disarming. His physical tools ferried any promise he retained entering Year 2. And in tandem with a better three-point stroke, it's helped him deliver more actual-NBA-player moments this season.
Who Is Most Likely To Be a 1st-Time All-Star In the Next 5 Years?
4 of 10
Winner: Kon Knueppel
Lights-out shooters who are also willing and versatile screensetters and capable of running the offense do actually grow on trees…in planets far, far away. This is all to say: Kon Knueppel was the right answer with 65 percent of the vote.
Brandon Miller is not to be forgotten, though. And with 35 percent of vote, he wasn't. He will enter the chat if he adds a more consistent playmaking and/or foul-drawing gear to his offense.
Coby White deserves an honorable mention despite not earning a single vote. He is First Team "Might Just One Day Average 23 and 7 on Above-Average Efficiency."
Who Has the Best Contract?
5 of 10
Winner: Moussa Diabaté
Players with the potential to make an All-Star or All-NBA squad on their rookie deals are front-office catnip. On a related note, Kon Knueppel won't be making more than 7.7 percent of the salary cap until 2029-30—and still didn't win.
Blame Moussa Diabaté, and his 47 percent share of first-place picks. He has another year valued at under 1.5 percent of the cap left on his deal. That is just silly. Yours truly would have leaned toward the lengthier terms of Knueppel's contract, but I'm also not mad at the results.
Who Has the Worst Contract?
6 of 10
Winner: Tre Mann
Tre Mann's contract is small enough to be innocuous. But did Charlotte really need to include a second guaranteed year valued at $8 million? Nearly 40 percent of you agree that his pact is excessive.
Miles Bridges as the runner-up is only shocking if you expected him to finish first. He is among the NBA's least-impactful puts-up-numbers guys. With two guaranteed years and $47.8 million left on his deal, his value tops out as "salary-matching that might not require an attached sweetener."
Who Is the Best Trash-Talker?
7 of 10
Winner: LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball's three-point celebrations count as trash talk. Even if they don't, he's got the staredown/taunt-the-other-team's-bench element down pat. Close to two-thirds of voters apparently agree.
Brandon Miller once trash-talked Michael Jordan during a workout. That alone is worth the runner-up finish (16 percent). Tre Mann (5 percent) is on the record calling Lu Dort the league's fakest tough guy. Moussa Diabaté (13 percent) apparently talks so much smack you must cover his entire face with your hand just to quiet him. That's a rock-solid bronze medal outcome.
Who Is Most Likely To Have a Burner Account?
8 of 10
Winner: Grant Williams
Talk about your close calls. Grant Williams (41 percent) juuuust surpassed Miles Bridges (40 percent) for the highly coveted honor of Hornets Player Most Likely To Have A Burner Account.
Although Kon Knueppel (4 percent) would be my personal pick, it's tough to argue against the people when they elect the dude who once dressed up as Batman.
Who Are You Taking With You Into the Zombie Apocalypse?
9 of 10
Winner: Sion James
Sion James looks strong enough to keep entire populations alive, so I understand the 44 percent who voted for him. But I have to say, the Hornets faithful are sleeping on LaMelo Ball.
He has a hummer wrapped in camouflage and seemingly minimal regard for the rules of the road. Those undead MFers better watch out.
Who Is Most Likely To Be Playing Overseas In 2 Seasons?
10 of 10
Winner: Tosan Evbuomwan
Even if this exercise was the first time you saw/read Tosan Evbuomwan's name, that was grounds to throw him 37 percent of the vote. Beyond that, his point forward-y arsenal is intriguing but shaky shooting looms as a fatal flaw.
Antonio Reeves (13 percent) finishing behind Xavier Tillman (23 percent) and Tre Mann (26 percent) is pretty funny. And also cool for him.
The logic behind Mann at No. 2 is solid. His game has future "[Insert Your International League of Choice Here] MVP" written all over it.
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