NBA players will vote for their peers to determine who deserves the L’s top individual awards, as the union tries to wrestle control of the always-controversial issue away from the media.
Members of the press have determined the Most Valuable Player, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year and other awards since the 1980-81 season—the NBPA’s ceremony this summer will include a number of categories on and off the court, including a “Man of the Year” award.
LeBron James—we can only assume jokingly (or not)—says he would vote for LeBron James as the MVP this season.
Per the NEOMG:
“Been working on it for a while,” said Cavs forward James Jones, who serves as the team’s union rep. “Something players have been interested in doing for a long time. I think it probably would have been done a lot earlier but we’ve been in transition as far as a union staff and our front office. It’s something that’s pretty exciting for the players because it just gives the players a voice and an opportunity to interact and make their opinions known to the fans. It’s really about the fans.”
“It’s a conversation we can have at a later date,” LeBron James said of whether the players should replace the media in the voting process. “The media has done a great job every single year with picking after-season awards and in-season awards. But us players as well, we get to see the guys every single day. It’s a longer conversation.”
“Myself,” James said with a smile when asked about which player would get his vote for MVP. He then revealed players couldn’t vote for themselves in these new postseason awards. His teammates, however, can. […] “I will leave my voting to be seen by the tallies, but we have made it known how I feel and we feel about LeBron,” Jones said after admitting the Cavs have yet to fill out their ballots. “That’s for all the players because it’s not just about one category, it’s about different categories.”
