2021 NBA awards ballot: Jonathan Geib
Most Valuable Player
- Joel Embiid
- Chris Paul
- Nikola Jokic
- LeBron James
- Stephen Curry
Defensive Player of the Year
- Ben Simmons
- Rudy Gobert
- Bam Adebayo
Sixth Man of the Year
- Jordan Clarkson
- Derrick Rose
- Montrezl Harrell
Most Improved Player
- Julius Randle
- Michael Porter Jr.
- Jerami Grant
Rookie of the Year
- LaMelo Ball
- Anthony Edwards
- Immanuel Quickley
Coach of the Year
- Tom Thibodeau
- Quin Snyder
- Monty Williams
All-NBA First Team
- Stephen Curry
- Damian Lillard
- James Harden
- Nikola Jokic
- Joel Embiid
All-NBA Second Team
- Chris Paul
- Luka Doncic
- Kawhi Leonard
- LeBron James
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
All-NBA Third Team
- Devin Booker
- Jayson Tatum
- Kevin Durant
- Zion Williamson
- Rudy Gobert
All-Defensive First Team
- Ben Simmons
- Jrue Holiday
- Bam Adebayo
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Rudy Gobert
All-Defensive Second Team
- Matisse Thybulle
- Marcus Smart
- Kawhi Leonard
- Draymond Green
- Joel Embiid
All-Rookie First Team
- LaMelo Ball
- Immanuel Quickley
- Anthony Edwards
- Jae’Sean Tate
- James Wiseman
All-Rookie Second Team
- Tyrese Haliburton
- Cole Anthony
- Saddiq Bey
- Isaac Okoro
- Isaiah Stewart
The most intriguing NBA award every year is the Most Valuable Player award mainly because there is no one definition that people can agree on. Should the award be given to the player who has the greatest impact on his team or to the player who is the best player on one of the best teams? By definition of valuable, LeBron James should theoretically win this award every year, but that has not been the case. This season, Joel Embiid is the Most Valuable Player no matter how you define it. Embiid is the most dominant and unguardable player in the NBA and has had the most impact on his team’s success.
The Sixers should earn a number of accolades as Ben Simmons is unquestionably deserving of Defensive Player of the Year. He can lock down pretty much any player in the league and his size and quickness gives him the versatility to guard players at all five positions. Simmons, along with Embiid and Matisse Thybulle, deserves All-NBA Defensive team honors this year.
Also deserving of recognition this year is what is happening at Madison Square Garden. Tom Thibodeau has turned the New York Knicks franchise around in one year and did not do it by any big-name signings or trades. Thibodeau is a demanding coach who plays his starters more minutes than any other coach in the league. This method has proved effective this season as Julius Randle is playing at an MVP-finalist caliber and propelling this recently disgraced franchise into the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. Thibodeau has earned Coach of the Year and Randle has earned Most Improved Player by a large margin. I do not root for the Knicks in any capacity as a Sixers fan, but I am intrigued to see how this Knicks team plays in the postseason.