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The 1,230-game NBA regular season ends Wednesday. The following morning, editor-in-chief Chris Sheridan will submit his ballot for the season-ending awards.
I don’t have a vote but I am hoping to influence his thought process with my choices, which are below.
If not, I am hoping I will make him laugh with my snotty remarks.
Let’s get to it.
A dozen teams have played at least half their schedule and another seven will join them today, when the most of the most significant holidays in this country’s history becomes the season’s unofficial midway point.
So Dr. Martin Luther King Day is as good a time as any to examine the current front-runners for the annual awards. Included are links to both our staff’s preseason picks and the current rankings.
And as always, we’ve included snide remarks if/when necessary.
Larry Bird signed David West as a free agent, traded for George Hill, removed the interim tag from Frank Vogel and picked up Leandro Barbosa for next to nothing.
And over the longer haul, he finally reaped the rewards of waiting for dead weight to be cleared from the Indiana Pacers’ salary cap, and for drafting Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Paul George in consecutive years.
For this, Bird was honored by his peers Wednesday when he was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year, winning over second-place R.C. Buford, who dealt Hill to Indiana last June for the draft rights to Kawhi Leonard and the NBA rights to Erazem Lorbek (whose prowess has been chronicled on this site).
Bird totaled 88 points and received 12 first-place votes from a panel of his fellow team executives throughout the NBA. Buford finished second with 56 points (eight first-place votes) votes and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Neil Olshey finished third with 55 points (six first-place votes). Executives were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
Bird becomes the first person to win MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year.
Here are the full balloting results:
Larry Bird, Indiana 12 8 4 88 R.C. Buford, San Antonio 8 4 4 56 Neil Olshey, L.A. Clippers 6 7 4 55 Gar Forman, Chicago 2 2 - 16 Kevin O’Connor, Utah - 2 4 10 Glen Grunwald, New York - 2 2 8 Pat Riley, Miami 1 - 2 7 Sam Presti, Oklahoma City 1 - - 5 Chris Wallace, Memphis - 1 2 5 David Kahn, Minnesota - 1 1 4 Rod Thorn, Philadelphia - 1 - 3 Dell Demps, New Orleans - 1 - 3 Rick Sund, Atlanta - 1 - 3 Danny Ainge, Boston - - 1 1 John Hammond, Milwaukee - - 1 1 Lon Babby, Phoenix - - 1 1 Mitch Kupchak, L.A. Lakers - - 1 1 Otis Smith, Orlando - - 1 1 Masai Ujiri, Denver - - 1 1
We’re gonna go out on a limb and say the artist formerly known as Ron Artest won’t be repeating as winner of the Citizenship Award.
But what of the NBA’s other season-ending awards?
Our winners are below, replete with the customary snotty remarks.
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Indiana’s Larry Bird turned the Pacers into a borderline elite team, with offseason additions David West and George Hill and in-season addition Leandro Barbosa, adding needed playoff experience. He also preserved his cap room for this summer, when he will probably have to overpay for a backcourt scorer (Eric Gordon? Lou Williams? Ray Allen?).
The Clippers’ Neil Olshey made the Chris Paul deal happen and also added veteran toughness in Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups. He also never stopped trying to improve his team after Billups went down, adding Kenyon Martin, Reggie Evans, Bobby Simmons and Nick Young. He has mortgaged a bit of his future, though.
However, the winner should be San Antonio’s R.C. Buford, who has won this award zero times, or one less than Elgin Baylor. Buford moved the extension decision on George Hill to the Pacers for Kawhi Leonard, one of the league’s better rookies, and the rights to Erazem Lorbek; saw the potential in benchwarmer Danny Green; saved $11 million by foisting Richard Jefferson’s bloated contact upon Golden State for old friend Stephen Jackson; trolled the overseas market for speedy Patty Mills; and snatched the versatile Boris Diaw via waivers, all while transitioning to the future.
The result has been the deepest roster coach Gregg Popovich has ever had, with 11 players averaging at least 19 minutes but only one (Tony Parker) averaging more than 28. Meanwhile, the Spurs have the top seed in the West and – as usual – are playing their best ball entering the postseason.
MIDSEASON PICK: Olshey, who was very good. Buford was just a bit better.
SNOTTY REMARK: Although he tried very hard, Dwight Howard was not under consideration.
SON OF SNOTTY REMARK: As an executive, Michael Jordan makes a great golfer.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Frank Vogel of Indiana, Doc Rivers of Boston, Stan Van Gundy of Orlando, Alvin Gentry of Phoenix and Mike Brown of the LA Lakers should all get some consideration for either changing the culture or working through some difficult circumstances while producing a winning season. But none of them will win.
Lionel Hollins of Memphis is a notch above that group. The Grizzlies played half the season without their top two power forwards (Zach Randolph, Darrell Arhtur), incorporated two new rotation pieces (Marreese Speights, Gilbert Arenas), used a pair of rookies as their backup point guard (Jeremy Pargo, Josh Selby) and had virtually no attack from the arc and still made it into the 40-win club. But Hollins won’t win, either.
Those touting Tom Thibodeau of Chicago should keep in mind that no one has ever won this award in consecutive years, so he probably won’t win, either. However, the Bulls snared the East’s top seed despite being without shooting guard Richard Hamilton for 40 games, All-Star forward Luol Deng for 13 games and reigning MVP Derrick Rose for 28 games. Chicago led the NBA in defense, rebound percentage and scoring margin, was second in opponents’ field-goal percentage, third in blocks, fourth in assist-turnover ratio and had the best road record.
The winner should be Popovich, whose peerless stewardship through a challenging season has San Antonio as championship favorites entering the playoffs. With extemely limited practice time, the Spurs have somehow gotten better as individuals and as a group; while other clubs are gasping for air at the finish line, they are 36-7 since late January.
Popovich did this while handing the team from Tim Duncan to Tony Parker while enduring Manu Ginobili’s 30-game absence and getting contributions from virtually all of the youngsters. Once built on defense, the Spurs are now a top-three offensive team that plays as unselfishly as any team in recent memory.
MIDSEASON PICK: Popovich. Given how the Spurs finish seasons, no one was overtaking him.
SNOTTY REMARK: Carmelo Anthony assured Mike Woodson of winning Poach of the Year.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: This award was Dwight Howard’s to lose, and in our opinion, he lost it. Folks like to point to Howard’s dominance of the paint, whether he is blocking shots, deterring drives or sweeping the boards while covering for individuals not exactly committed to the defensive end.
But there have been too many times this season where Howard allowed the distractions of his employment situation to impact his effort, which was reflected in Orlando’s drop in rebound percentage and opponents’ field-goal percentage.
This could be just the second time since 1996 that a perimeter player wins the award. There are three leading candidates – Shawn Marion of Dallas, Tony Allen of Memphis and Andre Iguodala of Philadelphia. All three are asked on a nightly basis to defend the opposing team’s top offensive player – regardless of position – and do a remarkable job.
Marion is perhaps the most versatile, defending every position except center. Allen is fifth in 
steals despite playing just 26 minutes per game and stated his case with a team-record eight Monday vs. Cleveland. Iguodala is seventh in steals and also made a recent statement with Saturday’s shutdown of Danny Granger in a road win that opened the door to the postseason.
Our pick is Iguodala, and we say that with the bias of having watched him more than Marion or Allen.
MIDSEASON PICK: Howard. In the season’s second half, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins have been much more impactful as defensive pivots.
SNOTTY REMARK: Howard got really defensive when Stan Van Gundy called him out.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: This is the one award where virtually every team has a candidate. So let’s acknowledge the leaps and/or bounds made by Jeff Teague, Josh Smith, Avery Bradley, Gerald Henderson, John Lucas III, Ty Lawson, Goran Dragic, Paul George, Ersan Ilyasova, Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Jarrett Jack, Jason Smith, Jeremy Lin, Marcin Gortat, DeMarcus Cousins, Tiago Splitter and Tony Parker, none of whom will get a sniff of winning.
That still leaves six highly viable candidates – three young players climbing into prominence, two established players vaulting into stardom and one outlier that no one could have foreseen.
The outlier is New Jersey’s Gerald Green, who was the Jeremy Lin of the season’s second half. He is averaging 13.0 points while shooting 49 percent overall and 38 percent from the arc. Not bad for a guy who hadn’t played in the NBA in nearly three years.
The trio of young players is Detroit’s Greg Monroe, who is carrying the biggest load but not making his team much better; Utah’s Gordon Hayward, who has doubled virtually all of his offensive numbers from a disappointing rookie season; and Orlando’s Ryan Anderson, whose increase in production can be attributed to more minutes.
One of those guys will probably win, because most media members have traditionally leaned toward the blossoming young player rather than the fixture. But let me throw a couple of names at you.
Lakers center Andrew Bynum has raised his scoring average more than 7 ppg to 18.7 points. His rebounds are up more than 2 rpg to 11.8, which is third in the league. He is shooting and making more free throws. He made his first All-Star team. And in the recent seven games Kobe Bryant sat out with a shin injury, the Lakers went 5-2 and held onto the Pacific Division lead, primarily because Bynum averaged 23.1 points and 15.6 rebounds.
And everyone needs to take a long, hard look at Oklahoma City’s James Harden, who has made quantum leaps in scoring, overall and 3-point shooting percentage, free-throw attempts, rebounds and assists. He has clearly raised his game, while superstar teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook – who get nearly all of the pub – have either flatlined or made tiny hops from last season.
It’s Bynum over Harden, but not by much.
MIDSEASON PICK: Lin, who was a lock unless he got hurt. Oops.
SNOTTY REMARK: Lin’s countless interview references to God earned him Most Improved Prayer.
SIXTH MAN AWARD: This award should always go to a guy from a winner, and virtually every playoff team relies on at least one key reserve for its success. Just look at the 76ers, who would be nowhere near the postseason without Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young, both among the top eight in scoring among subs. Or the Nuggets, who used Al Harrington to withstand the injuries to Danilo Gallinari. Or the Mavericks, who always lean on Jason Terry.
Williams will be the first player since Charlotte’s Dell Curry 18 years ago to lead his team in total points while coming off the bench. He also is one of the most efficient fourth-quarter scorers in the NBA – starter or reserve – and the closest thing the Sixers have to a top option. But he is not the winner.
The award should go to Harden, who leads all reserves in scoring and free-throw attempts, ranks second in field-goal percentage, third in 3-pointers and is even in the top 10 in assists. He has been held to single digits just four times this season – one more than machine-gunner Carmelo Anthony – and is second among all players in points per shot.
And just in case folks were leaning toward Williams, Harden cracked open a 40 on Phoenix last week.
MIDSEASON PICK: Williams, whose cause was hurt by his team’s second-half slump.
SNOTTY REMARK: Former winner Lamar Odom claimed the Sixteenth Man Award.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: The All-Rookie Team is selected independent of position, which is a good thing because first-year bigs came up very small this season. Undrafted free agents Gustavo Ayon and Ivan Johnson were more impactful than No. 3 pick Enes Kanter and No. 6 pick Jan Vesely.
The First Team should be power forward Kenneth Faried flanked by point guards Kyrie Irving, Ricky Rubio, Isaiah Thomas and Brandon Knight, who edges out MarShon Brooks and Kawhi Leonard for the last spot.
Irving is the obvious winner and should be a unanimous selection. It would have been interesting if Rubio had stayed healthy, which would have kept the Timberwolves in the postseason hunt a little longer and created a groundswell for his candidacy while Irving’s Cavaliers faded into obscurity. I admit I was a skeptic, but the kid from Spain has won me over.
MIDSEASON PICK: Irving, who clinched the award as soon as Rubio went down.
SNOTTY REMARK: Charlotte’s Kemba Walker only thought he was leaving college early to join an NBA team.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Let’s start with the All-NBA teams, which must have a F-F-C-G-G format. Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and the Gasol brothers aren’t making any of them.
The Third Team is LaMarcus Aldridge, Josh Smith, Kevin Garnett, Tony Parker and Steve Nash. You can quibble with Garnett, but he played the pivot for the entire second half of the season and was outstanding on both ends. The toughest choice was Nash over Rajon Rondo, whose sour start can’t be obscured by his furious finish.
The Second Team is Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Andrew Bynum, Russell Westbrook and Dwyane 
Wade. Both Love and Bynum were strongly considered as potential First Teamers.
Somewhat predictably, the First Team is LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. We looked long and hard at Love vs. Durant and Bynum vs. Howard, but both came up just a bit short.
There are only three true MVP candidates. Each of them has an All-Star teammate, and each has flaws. Paul’s numbers have been better and are not overwhelming in any way. Durant has made moderate gains in other areas, but his free throws are down, his turnovers are way up, and he still resonates as simply a scorer.
James? His numbers are off the charts, but that whole fourth-quarter thing reared its ugly head again several times. And given Rose’s prolonged absence, how did Miami not win the East?
Here’s where James wins me over. He played in 13 games this season without Wade. In those games, he averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 54 percent from the field. And Miami went 12-1.
That’s enough for me.
MIDSEASON PICK: James. Three MVPs is very exclusive company.
SNOTTY REMARK: James is still looking for his first Finals MVP.
Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear every Wednesday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.
There aren’t many fringe benefits that come with a 66-game schedule, but one cool quirk is that All-Star Weekend is splitting the season almost exactly in half.
When the Lakers and Thunder wrap things up late Thursday night, all but six teams will have played half their games as the league takes a four-day break in Orlando, where the forecast is less than ideal.
Speaking of less than ideal forecasts, below are our midseason award winners, delivered with the complete understanding that “they don’t give out no prizes at halftime.”
And of course, also delivered with snotty remarks.
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks and Masai Ujiri of the Nuggets get props for remaining competitive while overhauling their rosters. In a frenemy moment, they even helped each other.
Larry Bird could have grumbled about the amnesty clause being put in place as soon as Indiana’s five years of cap hell came to an end. Instead, he used it on James Posey, stole David West from the Celtics and maintained flexibility to extend All-Star Roy Hibbert and George Hill while popping for another free agent this summer.
Thus far, however, the winner has to be Clippers VP Neil Olshey, who pounced when David Stern vetoed the first Chris Paul trade (and gave up next to nothing for an MVP candidate), won the bid for Chauncey Billups and added frontcourt toughness with free agents Caron Butler, Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin. This is a darkhorse championship contender, folks.
SNOTTY REMARK: Sorry, commissioner, you’re not eligible.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Not an easy one. Do you lean toward culture changers? Doing more with less? Overall nightly acumen? At this point of the season, any parameter produces multiple candidates.
It’s nice to say you want your team to play “smashmouth basketball,” but Frank Vogel has the Pacers actually doing it. Meanwhile, Doug Collins has the 76ers playing for each other on offense, where they don’t have an alpha dog, and defense, where they lead the league without a rim protector.
Lionel Hollins has the Grizzlies in a playoff spot despite missing both his power forwards and having a pair of not-ready rookies as his backup point guard. And Rick Adelman has the Timberwolves jockeying for the postseason, even though his point guard can’t shoot, trade bait Luke Ridnour is his best 2-guard and his small forward slot has been abdicated.
But at this point, the leader may be Gregg Popovich. Manu Ginobili has played just nine games and Tim Duncan is a part-time player, but the Spurs have the NBA’s fourth-best record and suddenly are unbeatable on the road, where they couldn’t buy a win in the early going. Richard Jefferson has become a dead-eye shooter, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard can be trusted in crunch time, and the Spurs – thought to be too old to compete – are going to be an extremely tough out this spring.
SNOTTY REMARK: DeMarcus Cousins and Andray Blatche are neck-and-neck for Coach Killer of the Year.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Since 1996, Ron Artest is the only perimeter player who has won this award. But there are a handful of highly viable perimeter candidates this season in Tony Allen, Shawn Marion and Andre Iguodala. Among bigs, Anderson Varejao and Serge Ibaka have been difference-makers.
And when it comes to impacting the game on a nightly basis as a defender, none of them come anywhere close to Dwight Howard.
In addition to reclaiming the league lead in rebounding – which, if you recall, is how you finish a defensive stand – Howard discourages drives and protects the paint in a far more imposing and effective manner than any of the four players who are averaging more blocks. And he does it while taking the worst beating of any player at the offensive end and playing on a Magic squad that would stop next to no one without him.
SNOTTY REMARK: If you really want to see Howard’s defensive prowess, ask him about his trade demands.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Our thought process remains that it is much easier to make the jump from nobody to somebody, because it is usually facilitated by the trampolines of playing time and a coach’s confidence. Making the jump from somebody to star is much tougher. In that latter category are Marcin Gortat, Andrew Bynum, Ryan Anderson and James Harden, whose game has taken the biggest jump with the smallest boost of burn.
But Harden will be overlooked, because there are too many players in the former group and too many writers who too often default to the “little engine that could” when voting on this award. The difference is there is a truly deserving candidate this season.
While Byron Mullens, Alonzo Gee, Nikola Pekovic, Paul George and Greg Monroe all have 
made quantum leaps from last season, Jeremy Lin is in a category by himself. A year ago – heck, a month ago – Lin was a third-string point guard whose roster presence was as much novelty as necessity. Simply put, he has elevated his game to a level that saved the season for the Knicks.
There will be an inevitable return from the stratosphere, but as long as there isn’t too much burnoff on the re-entry, this award is Lin’s to lose.
SNOTTY REMARK: If the Clippers can sign Paul to an extension, Donald Sterling clinches Most Improved Payer.
SIXTH MAN AWARD: This award traditionally (and correctly) has gone to a member of a winning team, and there are plenty of folks who fit the bill. In addition, former winners Ginobili (injured), Lamar Odom (slumping) and Jamal Crawford (grumbling, and now starting) are most likely out of the picture, opening up the balloting.
While C.J. Watson, O.J. Mayo, Thaddeus Young and Mo Williams all deserve mention, they are probably a click below Jason Terry (another former winner) and Al Harrington (whose numbers will probably be impacted by the impending return of Wilson Chandler). And we believe those two are another click below Harden and Lou Williams.
Harden is highly intriguing, because in addition to leading all reserves in scoring, he adds a playmaking dynamic. There are times where Oklahoma City’s offense looks better with Harden initiating it rather than the speedy but sloppy Russell Westbrook.
But Harden is almost always sharing the floor with Westbrook, Kevin Durant or both, which makes his job much easier. Williams also makes plays for teammates and often has the added burden of go-to guy down the stretch, and handles it pretty well. According to 82games.com, which defines clutch time as under five minutes left with a margin of five points or less, Williams is the not the NBA’s most efficient reserve. He’s the NBA’s most efficient player.
SNOTTY REMARK: Betcha Stephen Jackson didn’t think he would be eligible for this award.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: While the overall rookie crop is not bad, the bigs are coming up mighty small. The best of the bunch has been Phoenix’s Markieff Morris, who averages a pedestrian 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds. Sheesh.
On the flip side, all six newbies averaging double digits and 10 of the top 11 rookie scorers are guards. That list includes Kemba Walker, who probably has been surpassed in the overall race by Brandon Knight, who has a chance to be a spectacular player.
However, Knight is a distant third to two other floor generals who already are spectacular players – runner-up Ricky Rubio and midseason leader Kyrie Irving, who would have to fall on his face to lose this award. In addition to his 18.5 points and nearly 50 percent shooting, his steely nerve has lifted the Cavaliers out of laughingstock status.
SNOTTY REMARK: Derrick Williams says he’s now targeting Most Improved Player next year.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: No major award winner has ever changed teams during that season, although Larry Brown probably should have won Coach of the Year in 1991-92, when he was fired by San Antonio before guiding the Los Angeles Clippers to a 23-12 finish and their first playoff berth in 16 years.
But let’s say Howard continues to ring up 20-20 games and pushes Orlando to a 28-16 mark and a top-four seed in mid-March. On March 15, GM Otis Smith works a deal with New Jersey or Golden State for Howard, who racks up more 20-20 games as he lifts that team from a certain lottery slot to an eighth seed. Is he the MVP?
Probably not. But we love stirring the pot.
Howard, Kevin Love and the suddenly emerging Tony Parker are the only candidates who really don’t have a top-notch sidekick. Unlike my boss, however, I cannot entertain Love as a serious candidate unless the Wolves finish above .500 and make the playoffs. And Kobe Bryant’s remarkable individualism has the Lakers buoyant but not brilliant.
On a higher level, the smaller discussion includes Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and LeBron James, all of whom have strong arguments. Paul should and will get most of the credit for elevating the Clippers to elite status, where Durant’s Thunder and James’ Heat already resided.
Durant won’t win another scoring title, but his other numbers are up dramatically from last season. And his penchant for late-game heroics provides an alternative to the James haters, who become far more invasive and persuasive beginning in mid-April.
But James should have the award locked up by then, because he is tearing through the NBA the way wolves attack raw meat. Playing the fewest minutes of his career, he is shooting and rebounding better than ever. He has had bad quarters here and there, but really hasn’t had a true clunker game. And he has the Heat at the top of the NBA. The haters better hope he is peaking too early.
If you’d like a more simplistic argument, the season is eight weeks old, and James has won Player of the Week four times. If you’d prefer a more technical argument, his PER of 32.68 would be the best in NBA history.
Why argue?
SNOTTY REMARK: Javaris Crittenton is the runaway winner for Most Valuable Slayer.
Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear every Wednesday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.
