NBA: Kevin Durant, Paul George Lead Year Of The Comeback

If the NBA still handed out its Comeback Player of the Year award, this year’s race would be a doozy between Paul George, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.

Three players, three comeback stories and one award that doesn’t exist anymore—the race for the mythical title of NBA Comeback Player of the Year in 2015-16 is an extraordinary one.

It’s been 30 years since the Association last handed out the award, when Marques Johnson of the Los Angeles Clippers got to hold the perpetual title of reigning Comeback Player of the Year for a season in which he changed positions and returned to All-Star status after struggling in his first season following a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks.

The other winners of the award included:

1980-81: Bernard King, Golden State Warriors (returned from legal and drug-related problems in Utah in 1979).
1981-82: Gus Williams, Seattle SuperSonics (did not play in 1980-81 while engaged in a contract dispute with the team).
1982-83: Paul Westphal, New York Knicks (remained upright for 80 games after missing most of the previous two seasons).
1983-84: Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz (led the league in scoring and the Jazz to their first-ever postseason berth after missing 60 games with a wrist injury in 1982-83).
1984-85: Micheal Ray Richardson, New Jersey Nets (returned from a suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. The following season he was given a lifetime ban for the same offense).

But 2015-16 is turning into the Year of the Comeback.

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Paul George missed all but 91 minutes of the 2014-15 season after he sustained a horrific compound fracture of his lower right leg during the USA Basketball Showcase event in Las Vegas in August 2014. He has returned to the Indiana Pacers better than ever. He’s on pace to set new career highs in scoring and rebounding.

His shooting has cooled after a white-hot start, but he’s still at a more than respectable .418/.401/.839 slash line while putting up 24.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals in 35.8 minutes a night.

More importantly for Indiana, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2010, George has played in all 35 of the Pacers’ games thus far and has led them to a 20-15 record, good for sixth in the wild, wild … East (???).

If the Comeback Player of the Year award still existed, George would be a lock for it in most seasons with the performance he’s putting together in Indiana.

But in 2015-16, it’s just scratching the surface.

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Another fallen superstar of 2014-15, former NBA MVP Kevin Durant, has battled some nagging injuries this season, but the Jones fracture of his right foot that kept him out for all but 27 games last season has not been an issue this season.

He’s missed seven games this season with hamstring and toe injuries, returning Wednesday night in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting and a season-high 17 rebounds—his highest total in a game since getting 17 against the Portland Trail Blazers in November 2012 and one off a career best.

In 29 games, Durant is averaging 26.6 points per game—down from his four-scoring-titles-in-five-seasons pace from 2009-14, but he’s playing almost 36 minutes a game and flirting with another 50/40/90 campaign with a shooting slash line of .517/.416/.894.

And the Thunder are back among the West’s elite after missing the postseason in 2014-15 (despite going 45-37).

Oklahoma City is 25-11, third in the Western Conference behind only the otherworldly tandem of the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs and solidly in contention for homecourt advantage in at least the first round.

But if a compelling race between George and Durant for the mythical comeback honor wasn’t enough to sate your appetite for tales of triumph after physical adversity, might I introduce you to Carmelo Anthony.

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Now 31, Anthony missed the second half of last season with a knee injury, playing in only 40 games as the Knicks collapsed to a franchise-worst 17-65.

His scoring is down this year, but he’s a more complete player than he has been for some time. Anthony is averaging 21.7 points (his lowest mark since averaging 20.8 in 2004-05, his second season with the Denver Nuggets), 7.5 rebounds (his best since a career-high 8.1 average in 2013-14) and 3.7 assists (just off his career-best 3.8 in 2006-07, his first All-Star season).

He’s shooting less (17.9 attempts, down from 20.2 last season and 21.3 in 2013-14), but doing more, with a box score plus/minus of plus-2.5, which would be the second-best of his 13-year career.

In many seasons, Anthony’s return would be a shoo-in for top comeback of the year. In 2015-16, he’s a distant third between the other two superstar wings.

But Anthony is leading the Knicks back to respectabiity. At 18-19, New York is just two games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference and their win at Miami Wednesday night pushed their victory total one notch higher than all of last season.

More hoops habit: 25 Worst Individual Seasons In NBA History

From a fan’s standpoint, the return of these three players to their superstar form of old is a win—regardless of one’s rooting interests.

Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant And The Award That Isn’t

By Phil Watson | Jan 7, 2016

If the NBA still handed out its Comeback Player of the Year award, this year’s race would be a doozy between Paul George, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.

More from Hoops Habit