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Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn made headlines this week when he declared himself the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year in a recent interview with the Sun-Sentinel.
Nunn pointed to the success of the Heat this season for his reasoning but his claim has not sat well with many around the sport, including presumptive Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ja Morant. The Memphis Grizzlies guard took exception with the statement and even laughed it off on social media.
In addition to Morant, the crew on ESPN’s “The Jump” debated the topic on Tuesday with NBA champion Kendrick Perkins among those taking Morant in the ROY race.
“I got it as a landslide: It’s Ja Morant,” Perkins said. “Listen, Ja Morant is the best player on his team [and] he almost made the All-Star team this year. To me, it’s apples and oranges; I got Ja Morant by a landslide.”
Morant is averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds while Nunn is posting 15.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. Morant leads all rookies in scoring, assists and field goals made while Nunn trails in each of those categories.
Based on his play this season, Morant has emerged as the strong favorite to win the ROY award and it seems as though Nunn will have to settle for second place.
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