April 2016 Basketball Wiretap

Steve Kerr Wins NBA Coach of the Year

Apr 27, 2016 8:14 AM

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will win the NBA Coach of the Year award, per Marc Stein of ESPN.

The Warriors broke the NBA's regular season wins record with a mark of 73-9.

Kerr was not on the sideline for the first 43 games of the season due to complications that stemmed from his offseason back surgery.

The team went 39-4 under interim head coach Luke Walton.

Marc Stein/ESPN

Tags: Golden State Warriors, NBA, NBA Award

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C.J. McCollum Named NBA's Most Improved Player

Apr 22, 2016 10:37 AM

C.J. McCollum has been named the NBA's Most Improved Player, receiving 101 first place votes and 559 points.

Kemba Walker was second with 166 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo (99) was third.

Stephen Curry was fourth in the voting and received seven first place votes despite winning MVP last season.

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Tags: C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers, NBA, NBA Award

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Jamal Crawford Wins 6th Man Of The Year Award

Apr 19, 2016 10:28 AM

Jamal Crawford has won the NBA's 6th Man of the Year Award.

Crawford had 341 points (51 first place votes), beating out Andre Iguodala, who had 288 points (33 first place votes).

Finishing third was Enes Kanter with 182 points (19 first place votes), followed by Will Barton with 158 points (15 first place votes).

Crawford previously won the award in 2010 with the Atlanta Hawks and in 2014 with the Clippers.

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Tags: Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, NBA Award

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Kawhi Leonard Repeats As Defensive Player Of The Year

Apr 18, 2016 2:19 PM

Kawhi Leonard has been named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Draymond Green finished second as he did last season, while Hassan Whiteside finished third.

Leonard received 84 first-place votes and 547 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters.

Green received 44 first-place votes and 421 total points, while Whiteside was third with 83 points.

DeAndre Jordan, Paul Millsap, Avery Bradley, Rudy Gobert and Tony Allen each received five or more points.

Green accepted the win by Leonard more this season.

"I felt robbed last year (because Kawhi played fewer games). I didn't feel robbed this year," said Green.

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Tags: Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, NBA, NBA Award

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Norman Powell, Karl-Anthony Towns Win Rookies Of The Month For April

Apr 15, 2016 3:34 PM

Norman Powell and Karl-Anthony Towns have been named the NBA's Rookies of the Month for April.

In April, Powell averaged 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 31.6 minutes in eight games (all starts). He shot .548 (40-73) from the field and paced the team in scoring four times. He led all Eastern Conference rookies in average points and three-point makes (1.9) and tied for second in steals (1.4).

The Raptors acquired Powell in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks on June 25, 2015, along with a future first-round draft pick in exchange for guard Greivis Vasquez. Powell was selected by Milwaukee in the second round (46th overall) in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Towns led all qualified rookies in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounding (11.7 rpg), blocked shots (1.71 bpg) and minutes played (35.6 mpg), while ranking fifth in field goal percentage (49.1%) and assists (3.6 apg) in April.

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Tags: Norman Powell, Toronto Raptors, NBA, NBA Award

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James Harden, LeBron James Named Players Of The Month

Apr 15, 2016 3:34 PM

LeBron James and James Harden have been named the NBA's Players of the Month for April.

In the month of April, James appeared in five (4-1) of Cleveland’s seven games and averaged an Eastern Conference-best 28.8 points on .656 (59-90) shooting from the field, including .563 (9-16) from the three-point line, .895 (17-19) from the foul line, 8.4 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 36.8 minutes per game.

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Tags: NBA, NBA Award

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Karl-Anthony Towns, Paul Millsap Named NBA's Players Of The Week

Apr 14, 2016 10:53 AM

Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul Millsap have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.

For the week, Towns averaged 21.3 points (T-10th in Western Conference), 10.3 rebounds (T-7th in the Western Conference) and 1.7 blocks per game as Minnesota’s swept its three-game West Coast road trip, the team’s most successful road trip since a 4-0 swing in December 2005.

Millsap led the Hawks to a perfect 3-0 week (home wins over Phoenix, Toronto and Boston), averaging 19.0 points, 15.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 4.3 blocks and 2.0 steals.


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Tags: Karl-Anthony Towns, Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, NBA Award

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LeBron James, Russell Westbrook Named Players Of The Month

Apr 5, 2016 3:09 PM

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have been named the NBA's Players of the Month for March.

In the month of March, James appeared in 14 games (10-4) and averaged 25.6 points on .538 shooting from the field, 8.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. 

Westbrook led the Thunder to an 11-5 record behind averages of 21.7 points, 10.6 assists (third in the NBA) and 8.3 rebounds.  His seven triple-doubles in March were the most in a calendar month since Michael Jordan had seven in April 1989.

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Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA, NBA Award

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Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Richardson Named NBA's Rookies Of The Month

Apr 5, 2016 3:21 PM

Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Richardson have been named the NBA's Rookies of the Month for March.

Towns led all qualified rookies in rebounding (10.5 rpg), field goal accuracy (58.2%) and PER (23.8), while ranking second in scoring (21.9 ppg), blocked shots (1.33 bpg) and minutes played (35.9 mpg) in March.

Richardson led all rookies during March in plus/minus (+66), steals per game (1.13), three-point field goals made (33), field goal percentage (.532) and three-point field goal percentage (.589). He averaged 12.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 15 games.

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Tags: Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, NBA Award

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LeBron James, J.J. Barea Named NBA's Players Of The Week

Apr 4, 2016 3:04 PM

LeBron James and J.J. Barea have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.

Barea led Dallas to a perfect 4-0 week with victories over Denver, New York, Detroit and Minnesota. He averaged 23.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists during that stretch while shooting 52.1 percent (38-of-73) from the field and 12-of-25 (.480) from 3-point range. Barea led Dallas outright in scoring in all four games during the week and led the team in assists in all four as well (including ties).

James played in three games this past week for Cleveland (all wins), averaging a near triple-double with 28.0 points on .576 shooting from the field, 9.3 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 2.3 steals in 38.7 minutes per contest. He led the Eastern Conference in points per game (28.0), while ranking second in assists per game (10.7), second in plus/minus (+44), tied for third in double-doubles (3), tied for seventh in steals per game (2.3) and ninth in rebounds per game (9.3). 

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Tags: LeBron James, J.J. Barea, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, NBA, NBA Award

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