The NBA all star break is just around the corner. Despite being a fun event for the fans every year, the break also marks the midway point of the NBA season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This season has shown to be very exciting, with many of the league’s stars and superstars displaying some incredible performances. Many players deserve to be recognized for their achievements this year, so let\u2019s see who is leading the race for the end of season awards now that the regular season is nearly halfway done. Jokic\u2019s Denver Nuggets are sitting atop the western conference, winning games consistently while looking like one of the best teams in the NBA. Jokic\u2019s performance on the court has been the same elite level that fans have come to expect of him over the previous 2 seasons. While there are certainly other strong cases to be made, especially by Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Jokic remains looking like the best player in the NBA so far this season. Honorable Mentions:<\/strong> Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum Honorable Mention:<\/strong> Benedict Mathurin, Jalen Williams Sixth Man of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon<\/strong> Honorable Mentions: <\/strong>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, Anfernee Simons The NBA all star break is just around the corner. Despite being a fun event for the fans every year, the break also marks the midway point of the NBA season. This season has shown to be very exciting, with many of the league’s stars and superstars displaying some incredible performances. Many players deserve to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":1472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/02\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-13-at-5.10.10-PM-e1676326238295.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/02\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-13-at-5.10.10-PM-e1676326238295.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Devin Snow","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/author\/devin-snow\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic<\/strong>
While this would be the third straight mvp season for Jokic, it is very hard to make the case that he doesn\u2019t deserve it yet again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Rookie of the Year: Paolo Banchero<\/strong>
Banchero has excited fans all year long with his fun, athletic play style and the flashes of his superstar potential. The Orlando Magic forward is well on his way to becoming an all star in the very near future and looks head and shoulders above most of the other members of his draft class.
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Defensive Player of the Year: Bam Adebayo<\/strong>
The veteran Miami Heat center has always been known for his grit and hustle, especially on the defensive end. Even 3 years after his amazing block against Jayson Tatum in the 2020 playoffs, he continues to wow fans and teammates alike with his ability. Adebayo is one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA and can come up with big time game changing plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honorable Mentions:<\/strong> Brook Lopez, Joel Embiid
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The Celtics guard has been a large contributor to their status as the best team in the NBA this season. Brgodon\u2019s scoring punch off of the bench, coupled with his effective and efficient shooting ability has added tremendous depth to Boston as they look poised for another deep run in the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honorable Mention:<\/strong> Jordan Poole
Most Improved Player: Lauri Markennen<\/strong>
Markennen\u2019s leap in production this year has been nothing short of impressive, highlighted by a whopping 10 point per game increase to his average. The Jazz have continued to outperform expectations all season long and the play from Markennen has been a huge factor in that. While he is being challenged for this award from a few other candidates, particularly from Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, If Markennen can keep the momentum going it looks very likely he will be most improved at the end of the year.
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