NBA Midseason Awards

Now that the NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us, lets look at my midseason awards.

MVP
1. Lebron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Kobe Bryant
LBJ has taken his team to a new level. The Cavaliers have entered the elite of the NBA thanks to the all-around play of LBJ. He is leading the league at 28.5 ppg while also getting 7.5 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 1.3 bpg and shooting 49%. If the Cavs gets to 65 wins, this should be a slam dunk.

Defensive Player of the Year
1. Dwight Howard
2. Kevin Garnett
3. Dwayne Wade
While Garnett is still play stifling defense, Howard has taken his game to a new level. The Magic have moved into the elite of the Eastern Conference and Howard is the reason. He is leading the NBA in rebounding at 14.1 rpg and blocks at 2.9 per game. He owns the paint and is rapidly chasing Tim Duncan as the best big man in the league.

Rookie of the Year
1. Derrick Rose
2. O.J. Mayo
3. Brook Lopez
Rose gets the nod, but it is close. Rose is averaging 17.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, and 6.3 apg while shooting 47%. Mayo is at 19.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 2.9 apg while shooting 44%. I like Rose right now a little more because his game is more well-rounded. Also, Memphis is awful and the Bulls are fighting for a playoff spot.

Coach of the Year
1. Stan Van Gundy
2. George Karl
3. Mike Brown
The Magic have emerged as an elite team in the East and could make a run to the NBA Finals. A lot of the credit will go to their 3 All-Stars (Howard, Nelson, and Lewis) but Van Gundy has taken control of the team and his players are responding. Karl has lead the Nuggets to the lead in the Northwest Division even thought they were without Carmelo Anthony for a month. The trade for Chauncey Billups has to be the move of the year so far.

Sixth Man
1. Manu Ginobli
2. Jason Terry
3. Andrei Kirilenko
Interesting that all 3 guys have been hurt this year, but Ginobli is a different animal when healthy. He is the crunch time star for a team that has its eyes on another title. While Terry is averaging 19.9 ppg, Ginoboli's all-around game gives him the edge. Manu is averaging 16.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.5 apg and 1.5 spg.

All-NBA First Team
PG: Chris Paul
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: LeBron James
PF: Tim Duncan
C : Dwight Howard
Only tough call was taking Wade of Kobe, but Wade has done much more with less.