The second annual NBA Awards Show was on Monday night. (Here are the results.) The NBA Awards Show has a lot of problems. The crowd is tiny and quiet. The delay between the end of the regular season (when the awards are decided) and the reveal is enormous. The anticipation and mystery is seriously lacking. There are mercifully few performances, and it’s a rather tight show compared to the Oscars or Grammys, but it’s still a two-hour long unveiling of what was once summed up in an ESPN ticker.
NBA Awards Show is awkward, bizarre, and completely worth it
We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
But then you get moments like Dikembe Mutombo winning the Sager Strong Award for his work to build a hospital — and next, a high school — in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo. The video story attached to Dikembe’s honor was incredible, and his short speech was touching.
You get something unthinkable, like the NBA — the actual NBA, the league itself — honoring Oscar Robertson for beating the everloving Hades out of the NBA in court in the 1970s. The Big O earned the well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, and the tribute video spent a lot of time on Robertson’s fight to bring free agency to the league. That’s pretty bold, even for the NBA.
You get a nice, detailed accounting of the absolutely incredible charity work Kevin Durant has done, touching kids in his native Maryland, his old home Oklahoma, and his new one in the Bay Area.
You get Jamal Crawford talking about why being a good teammate is important to him, and you get Dwane Casey lightly ribbing the Raptors for firing him after a season in which he won Coach of the Year. (Casey also referenced his “time in exile” in Japan, which was a nice Easter egg for those who know his career history.)
This is the stuff that makes it worth having an awkward, bizarre two-hour awards show replete with Bill Walton psychedelic dream Travis Scott performances, slightly nasty Anthony Anderson jokes, slightly nastier Inside the NBA jokes, more indoor sunglasses usage than a Lakers’ home game, and whispered acceptance speeches.
Every opportunity the NBA gets to show off the amazing charity work its players undertake (which, by the way, J.J. Barea’s enormous efforts in Puerto Rico deserved some recognition) and every opportunity the NBA gets to remind players and fans alike of its history — that’s a good use of time. That’s what makes the awards show an important piece of the league’s entertainment offerings.
Oh, there was one more thing that makes it all worthwhile.
Rico-la Jokic
The Nuggets did the smart thing on Monday, declining Nikola Jokic’s team option to make the Serbian big man a restricted free agent. The team plans to sign him to a five-year, $147 million deal when July begins. If anything gets weird, Denver can still match any offer sheet Jokic signs.
This move prevents Jokic from becoming an unrestricted free agency next summer at the cost of limiting the Nuggets’ salary cap flexibility this summer, potentially costing the team Will Barton. But the Nuggets had to go this route or risk losing Jokic for nothing in a year. This was an easy decision.
Links galore
Rachel Nichols found the Rockets’ table at the NBA Awards and they ... uh, they disputed pretty effectively that Chris Paul and the front office are at odds.
One more from Rachel: on the grace shown by the league to recognize The Big O, and the importance of doing so.
I wrote about the Lakers’ moment of truth. In other Lakers news, their pitch deck for Paul George appears to have leaked.
The Pacers declined Lance Stephenson’s option, indicating the team intends to get themselves a player in free agency.
No big pitch meetings for LeBron James this summer, and based on the rumor mill his decision might come quick.
Sweet story about James Harden going back to his middle school, where he promised his mom he’d be a star and where he’s building basketball courts and renovating a gym.
Speaking of the MVP, Adidas released a congratulatory ad for Harden that is really sweet!
The NBA raised its debt ceiling, letting its teams access more credit to cover expenses. I’m not sure this has practical effects on anything any of us care about, though Woj indicates it could help teams go into the luxury tax and absorb huge payrolls.
New Timberwolf Keita Bates-Diop’s story is one of resilience.
Be excellent to each other.
See More:
