Golden State Warriors: Midseason Team Awards

ROY: Justin Holiday

Ok, so maybe we’re cheating here since Justin Holiday isn’t actually a rookie. But since the Warriors don’t have any rookies (other than James Michael McAdoo, who’s only played two games) and because Holiday is receiving consistent minutes for the first time in his career, we’re going to bend the rules a bit.

Up to this point, Holiday had only played nine games for the Philadelphia 76ers in his entire NBA career, bouncing around the D-League and never finding anything more than stints at the professional level. But now under Steve Kerr, Holiday has found his designated role. Even better, he’s thriving in it.

The Dubs are so deep they don’t need Holiday to do too much. They have quite possibly the best bench in the NBA and definitely one of its best starting units. But Holiday is averaging a respectable 4.9 points in 11.7 minutes per game on 42 percent shooting (35.1 percent from downtown).

Every team (well, every fun team, at least) needs an irrational confidence guy. But the funny thing is, even though nobody knew who he was before this season, Holiday’s confidence isn’t all that irrational.

He had a quick trigger-finger this past offseason at NBA Summer League, and now that success has improbably carried over to both ends of the floor…all while playing for the best team in the association.

Next: Warriors Sixth Man Of The Year