NBA Awards Watch: Draymond Green Makes Push For Defensive Player Of The Year

Most Valuable Player

1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (Last Week: 1, –)

OK, so they lost — now what?

For the last two months, people have wondered what exactly it would take to defeat this behemoth of a basketball team. Well, now it’s obvious: if you want to beat the Warriors, you’ve got to catch them on the second night of a back-to-back that went into double overtime the night before — it’s really that simple, after all.

After they lost to the Bucks, Draymond Green noted that he was somewhat relieved, that now the Warriors could “have a regular season.” Perhaps this will allow the Warriors to revive that original hunger while staying within that fun, stylish brand of basketball that has made them a worldwide sensation.

Curry has had an anti-regular season in every sense — the man is an absolute rockstar now. From his endorsements to his child, Riley, everything that Curry touches turns into gold. Everyone wanted the streak to run forever, but it will be fun to see the Warriors annihilate the Suns by roughly 8,000 points tonight in their revenge game — look for Curry to score about 7,267 of them.

Curry’s Best Line of the Week: 12/11 vs. BOS, 2OT — 38 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 8 TOs, 9-27 FG, 6-13 3P
Week Grade: A-

2. Paul George, Indiana Pacers (Last Week: 2, –)

Paul George has cooled off just a bit since he was flirting with 50 points last week, but the Pacers went 2-1 instead of 0-3, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s as if George is setting out to get revenge on each and every person that even suggested he might not be the same player following that gruesome injury two summers ago.

With quality wins over the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors, two teams they’ll certainly be grappling with for playoff position, George and Pacers have successfully finished off an incredibly tough stretch of games. Unfortunately for George, Stephen Curry likely has this award all wrapped up already, but if it wasn’t for him, PG-13 would be the runaway winner.

George’s Line of the Week: 12/11 vs. MIA — 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 TOs, 7-17 FG
Week Grade: B+

3. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (Last Week: –, Up 1)

Admittedly, this wasn’t Dwyane Wade’s best week of basketball, but we’re leaving him here as a legacy move. Wade has proven detractors wrong time and time again throughout his Hall of Fame career, so I’m not looking to be the next one, especially after just one week.

Even still, the Miami Heat find themselves near the summit of the conference and with games against the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons, and two games against the Brooklyn Nets, they could end the year in an even brighter position.

With Kevin Durant and LeBron James lurking, however, Wade needs to rebound in order to stay up here in our rankings.

Wade’s Line of the Week: 12/7 vs. WAS — 26 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers, 12-15 FG
Week Grade: A-

Honorable Mentions: James Harden, Houston Rockets; LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers; Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors; Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers; Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans; Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder; Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder; Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs; John Wall, Washington Wizards; Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix Suns.

Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time

Week 1: Stephen Curry
Week 2: Stephen Curry
Week 3: Stephen Curry
Week 4: Stephen Curry
Week 5: Stephen Curry
Week 6: Stephen Curry
Week 7: Stephen Curry
Week 8: Stephen Curry