Hoops Habit
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Our NBA bubble awards: Crowning the small sample size winners

By Corey Rausch

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 06: Gary Trent Jr. #2 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates a three point basket against the Denver Nuggets with teammates Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the second quarter at Visa Athletic Center at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 06, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 06: Gary Trent Jr. #2 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates a three point basket against the Denver Nuggets with teammates Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the second quarter at Visa Athletic Center at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 06, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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NBA bubble (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
NBA bubble (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The NBA bubble has provided countless award-worthy performances, and while the league is giving out awards, we at Hoops Habit will present our own NBA bubble awards.

When it comes to regular season awards fans obsess over them from the jump. This is how the story of the season is told. If a player is being considered an all-time great or a Hall of Famer the awards they have won are often the first thing mentioned, and now the NBA bubble’s awards will get to appear on these resumes.

The NBA will be naming an MVP and All-Bubble team, the two most sought after and prestigious accolades that are normally given out during the regular season. Those awards are important and worth looking at. But why stop there?

Every season the NBA gives out those awards as well as Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Those should also be acknowledged for these NBA bubble games just as much as the other accolades. It is not simply about the biggest names pushing the top teams to the brink of a title. It is impossible to argue that anything has been more entertaining than the races for the final spots, not the top seeds.

So let’s choose all of these awards. Yes, the sample size is a minuscule eight games, but that is part of the fun. If there will be a recognized MVP of an eight games mini-season then everyone else deserves some recognition. For the few teams that have given their all throughout the small exhibition that will go unremembered when one of the top four teams inevitably wins the title anyway.