Category: Awards

2025 NBA awards: How the HoopsHype ballot would look

HoopsHype hands out awards and accolades for the 2024-25 NBA season, including MVP, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

With the 2024-25 NBA regular season just about wrapped up, we asked our team of writers and editors to vote on their end-of-year ballots, which we then totaled to give out awards for the 2024-25 season.

Just like the actual voting process is more than likely going to go, MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year were the closest calls, with Sixth Man of the Year also having a couple of very convincing options that finished neck-and-neck in the vote.

Below, you can check out HoopsHype’s MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and much more.

Which players have received votes for individual NBA awards the most times?

Unsurprisingly, the players considered the best to ever grace an NBA court have accumulated the most votes for individual awards given by the league in history. At No. 1, you have the inevitable LeBron James with 34 times receiving votes. However, …

Unsurprisingly, the players considered the best to ever grace an NBA court have accumulated the most votes for individual awards given by the league in history.

At No. 1, you have the inevitable LeBron James with 34 times receiving votes. However, there are some important caveats. First, modern-day players have a big advantage since the number of individual awards has increased over time. Defensive Player of the Year (for which LeBron received votes nine times) was only introduced in 1983, for example; one can imagine how many votes Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain would have had it existed during their careers.

Secondly, Tim Duncan might have topped this ranking if he hadn’t been so great from the get-go. What puts LeBron over the top here is his four years with Most Improved Player votes compared to Duncan’s zero – which is the price you pay when you’re an MVP candidate already in your rookie season.

As always, you can check the full ranking below.

The oldest NBA player to win each accolade

From MVP to Player of the Week, HoopsHype presents the oldest NBA player to win every major award, a list including LeBron James and Kareem.

Players usually win awards at the peak of their powers.

Yet, a select few like LeBron James can still perform at an elite level even in the twilight of their careers. With LeBron still playing at a high level and seemingly setting new records every other week, it raises an interesting question: Who are the most senior players to earn the NBA’s highest individual honors?

To answer this, we compiled the oldest players to win recognition for each individual award in the NBA over the years. Spoiler alert: Along with James, you’re going to see a whole lot of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on this list, another all-time great with absurd longevity.

The oldest players to win NBA Player of the Month

Aside from becoming the first player to score 50,000 points between the regular season and the playoffs, LeBron James achieved another feat on Tuesday by becoming the oldest player to win Player of the Month, besting the previous record set by Karl …

Aside from becoming the first player to score 50,000 points between the regular season and the playoffs, LeBron James achieved another feat on Tuesday by becoming the oldest player to win Player of the Month, besting the previous record set by Karl Malone back in 2000. All in all, the 21-time All-Star has earned the award on 41 occasions, more than doubling Kobe Bryant‘s 17.

See the 20 oldest winners below:

All the times the NBA’s top scorers were not the scoring champions

HoopsHype presents every season in NBA history in which that year’s top scorer by total points scored was not the scoring champion.

Last season, the NBA set a minimum of at least 65 games played for players to be eligible for individual postseason awards in an effort to curb load management. The early returns were promising, too. So why stop there? Historically, the scoring champion has been decided by a player’s points-per-game average. But what if we changed that to total points scored?

Today, we’re going to take a look at the seasons in which the NBA’s top scorers (judged by total points scored) were not the scoring champions because they didn’t have a high enough points-per-game average.

There have been several such instances in NBA history, as long ago as 1969-70 and as recently as 2022-23.

Crazily enough, Kobe Bryant’s legacy would be even more impressive had scoring champions been decided by total points scored. Bryant had two scoring championships in his career, one in ’06 and one in ’07. But in 2002-03, he scored 54 more total points than Tracy McGrady but lost the scoring title due to scoring average. And in 2007-08, Bryant outscored the scoring champion, LeBron James, by 73 total points, but again lost the title due to his lower average.

This change would have given Bryant a ridiculous four scoring titles in his career, tying him with Kevin Durant and George Gervin for the third-most ever.

For what it’s worth, although James would have lost the ’08 scoring title to Bryant if it were judged by total points, he was actually the total points scored champion in 2017-18 over James Harden, so he would still have one scoring title in his career in this scenario.

Oh, and if we were handing out scoring titles by total points scored, His Airness, Michael Jordan, would have 11 scoring titles instead of 10, because in 1984-85, he actually scored 504 more points than Bernard King, the year’s scoring champion by points average.

Not too shabby.

Below, check out the years where the NBA’s top scorers by total points were not scoring champions.

Where did Justin Jefferson finish in Offensive Player of the Year voting?

Justin Jefferson didn’t win Offensive Player Of the Year in 2024, but he still received runner-up votes.

Justin Jefferson has set the bar for himself so high that even when it felt like he was having a “down” year in 2024, he was still spectacular.

The fifth-year wideout finished second in the league with 1,533 yards and ten touchdowns, earning First-Team All-Pro honors for the second time in three seasons under Kevin O’Connell. This was with Sam Darnold throwing him the ball after spending his first four years primarily catching passes from Kirk Cousins.

There was little fanfare about Jefferson potentially winning the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award, but he did receive some votes. He finished seventh in voting with 27 points. Voting was on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale, where first place was worth ten points, second place was worth five, etc.

Jefferson had to fight through some rough stretches during the season, getting held to two catches for 27 yards at Soldier Field and five receptions for 48 yards against the Jaguars.

His 90.2 yards per game were his lowest since 2020, his rookie season. However, that again shows how good Jefferson is. That mark throughout a career would still be the highest in NFL history (he’s the current all-time leader with 96.5 yards per game. Ja’Marr Chase is second with 87.5 yards per game).

Although Jefferson received no first or second-place votes, he received 14 overall votes. Saquon Barkley, ahem, ran away with the award with 406 points. Lamar Jackson finished a distant second with 183 points.

Jefferson did win the award in 2022 after catching 128 passes for 1,809 yards, both of which led the league. Could he threaten to win the award again with J.J. McCarthy throwing him passes in 2025 and beyond?

Which Vikings earned Defensive Player of the Year votes?

Two Minnesota Vikings defenders received Defensive Player Of the Year votes on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Vikings’ defense made significant strides in 2024, ranking third in EPA per play and fifth in points allowed. They also led the league with 33 takeaways, 24 of which were interceptions.

Much of the success could be attributed to edge defenders Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, key free-agent signings last March. Greenard led the team with 12 sacks, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. Van Ginkel had 11.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and two interceptions, which he returned for touchdowns. He was the only player in the league with multiple touchdowns on defense.

Although their names weren’t mentioned much in the Defensive Player of the Year discussions, each player received at least one vote for the award. Van Ginkel finished seventh in the voting, receiving 21 points on a 10-5-3-2-1 voting scale. For example, he received ten points for his first-place vote, five points for his second-place vote, and so on.

Greenard finished with 10 points, oddly only coming from one first-place vote. Denver cornerback Patrick Surtain won the award with 330 points.

The good thing is that the two players will go into their second seasons with the Vikings, helping with name recognition. They will also have Brian Flores back as defensive coordinator. With tons of cap space in free agency, the Vikings could have an even better defense in 2025, leading to more accolades and recognition for them and their teammates.