 What's the word y'all? Are we ready to start giving out awards? We're weak into the NBA season, so let's just start throwing them out there. There are a few things we gotta get off right up rip and I might say this multiple times in the video because every year when I do a first week awards, one month awards, people don't understand. This is not a prediction video. I am not saying based on the first week of the season, I think that in April, this person's gonna win. That's lame. No, we're not doing it. I am saying that if the season were to end today, this is my MVP. This is my executive of the year because yes, we're doing stupid stuff like that and this is my most disappointed team. That's not in the war, but it might as well be. You know, this is not a prediction video for the second time. You got it? Great. Also remember, there's only one award that I could give out so there's a lot of candidates for each one of these awards. So if you disagree, that's okay. We're just talking hoops around here and the person that you got number one might end up getting the monthly award in a couple more weeks. Leave a like, subscribe and enjoy basketball. Let's get into it. Starting off with the MVP award. Let's get the heavy hitter out of the way and my personal opinion based on the first week of basketball, I am giving the MVP award to Damian Lillard. I don't have the upgraded stats because his game is still going on but they yanked the starters but he ended with 31, six and eight and a plus 24 against the Denver Nuggets. He also has two other 40 pieces on the season and he had one sneaker game that was the first game of the season but after that, he has been absolutely lights out and the Portland Trailblazers are surprising four and oh. So that's every assignments for having the first big game of the season because before this, he was shooting like 27% from three. We all knew he's a better three-point shooter than that but today in that third quarter, he was insane. I don't really understand the Portland Trailblazers right now because somehow they have a good defense with use of Nuggets and use of Nuggets. Matter of fact, let me look at use of Nuggets numbers because I ain't looked at him but the eye test is telling me he might have the worst field goal percentage amongst seven-footers in basketball that's not shooting threes. I hate using this app or this website but nobody else hasn't upgraded. So all the game just ended great. So today he ended up with 13 and 12. I don't know what he shot from the field but overall on the season, 33% today, 40% before that 60 and 33. I just feel like he misses so many bunnies but anyway, they got it done. They also don't have Gary Payton II in the lineup which is kind of important for defense. They've been able to put it together. Shout out to Damian Lillard. He is my number one. With every single one of these awards, I'm giving top three. So Dame, here's your trophy. Let's get to the runner up. The runner up for my MVP is Jason Tatum. Actually, I got a tweet. Everybody watching this is an NBA fan. So you know all of the emotions that go into watching your favorite team. And the first quarter, Jason Tatum hit like 16 points against the Bulls and this was my tweet. Here man, because the way he was hooping and the way he had hoop for the first couple of games of the season, he just looked like the number one cat. And then the Bulls came to play was specifically Alex Caruso got sucked into the game and I took my MVP award back. And now he's second on my hierarchy because he ended up blowing this game. JK, it wasn't him, but I mean, the team ended up losing stuff like that happens. Actually, this exact thing kind of happened to them last season, which was the start of their turnaround. I don't know if y'all remember that they were up by like 20 points in the fourth quarter against the Bulls. The Bulls came all the way back and won that game. And then like a week or two after that, that's when the Boston Celtics turned it up and became basically the greatest team of all time for the second half. So this is not anything new for them, but Tatum has been amazing so far. I'm super impressed with his defense. Now overall, the team defense hasn't been as great as you want it to be. And that's strictly based on the numbers. The ITES can be iffy. I mean, today it was bad. But like the other games, the ITES kind of told me all day, all right. And then the numbers said otherwise. I don't know, but Jason Tatum is a guy that could go out and give you 30, but also takes the responsibility to guard the other team's best player. We're talking about a rookie here, but I still want to do this little antidote. When they were going against the Orlando Magic, he took the assignment of Palo Banqueiro. Again, we're talking about a 19 year old rookie. So all is at that big of a deal. It kind of is because he's the best player on the Orlando Magic through the first couple of games of the season. And today he wanted to take an assignment in Demarda Rosen, but it wasn't even like Demarda Rosen taking the big shots or hitting the big shots. It was a collector shot to vooch on his birthday, 20 plus rebounds, but second of my MVP will be Jason Tatum. Third is Jama Rant. Oh, Memphis fans already know you upset, but listen, hear me out. Y'all did lose my 40 the night. I'm just saying you did lose my 40. And then there are a couple of candidates that didn't make the list. And it feels disingenuous because how the heck have the Dallas Mavericks and the Bucks only played two games on the season? Some teams have already played four. You only got two, right? So Yannis deserves to be in this conversation, but he's only played two games. And Luca also deserves to be in this conversation, but he's only played two games. I know it's two versus three, but you get me, hopefully. So it goes Damia Lillard, Jason Tatum, Jama Rant and Jama Rant gave us another performance. He continues to dominate the Brooklyn Nets. I think over the last couple of years since Jama Rant has got there, the Brooklyn Nets have not won a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He continues to do this thing. And if you look past the 40 point loss of the Mavericks, Rich is still crazy to me. They're three and one on the season with a roster that I didn't think was gonna be able to hold up as much as they were last year, just because Jared Jackson Jr. is not there and then they traded away some quality, quality role players. They've been able to fill those voids. Now, the defense is still not very good, but same time this year, last year, they had one of the worst defenses in basketball. But right now they got one of the best offenses in basketball and a lot of that is Jama Rant. Shout out to Desmond Bain for the big game today. Those are my top three MVP candidates. Now we're gonna get to Rookie of the Year. Now, I don't wanna pat myself on the back, but the top two players of the draft class so far have been two people that I predicted. Now, like I'm saying, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back because a lot of people understood that Paulo Mankaro went number one for a reason and a lot of people understood that Benedict Matherin was a beast. Again, he got drafted and said LeBron has to show me. LeBron has been on top of the league for 20 years and Benedict Matherin was like, not against me. And he has showcased that kind of energy. Now, who's number one? Who's number two? This is the way I determined it. I went based on the efficiency numbers. They're both averaging basically the same amount of points per game, but one thing Benedict Matherin has done is shot it better from three, seven attempts per game, shooting like 43% through the first week he's been dominant. Tonight maybe not as much, but he did have that crazy fourth quarter where he almost brought his team back. But I mean, look at these numbers from Paulo. He's been amazing too. If you have Paulo number one and Benedict number two, I couldn't be mad at you because both of them have been amazing. One luxury that Benedict Matherin has over Paulo is that he's not getting the other team's best defender every single night. Like I said, Jason Tatum took it upon himself to guard Paulo and I don't think a lot of teams have caught up just yet to what Benedict Matherin has been able to do. And maybe his numbers go down once the team does a scouting report, but both players have been lights out so far. And then my number three is gonna have to be Jayden Ivey. I was tempted to give it to Keegan Murray, but he missed the first couple of games because he got the virus, but the minutes he has played has been amazing. So he'll probably end up in this conversation for sure. I mean, the team looks dramatically different when he's on the court, shout out to him. Jayden Ivey is averaging 17.75 rebounds, six assists, 50% from the field, 45.5% from three. Almost four attempts and people are questioning whether or not his jump shot was gonna be real. Remember, it's only a three game sample size, but through the first three games that jump shot looks light out. Those are my top three candidates so far. Defensive player of the year. Now, this might be the hardest one. How the heck do you determine the best defensive player in the league based on a two to five game sample size? This is what I came up with. Even though this team has not won a single game on the year, the Lakers defense has been pretty damn good. And though Anthony Davis still sometimes looks like he's lost a step, him at that five position hasn't pretty good protecting the paint. I think he's averaging like close to three blocks per game and he's also getting like two and a half steals. And like I mentioned, he is the anchor of one of the best defenses in basketball. So I'm giving him the nod. Number two is Yanis. Again, only two game sample size, but we know Yanis should be in this conversation every single season. And just like the year before this or the year before that, year before that we know that Yanis is an elite level defender. Number three is rough though. I mean, I'm looking, I'm trying to look at stats. I'm trying to remember games that I've watched and try to think about overall defensive impact. And you know what? This might be one of those awards that, hey, we leave it at two and I'll open it to the public. You let me know. Most improved player. There's two real candidates when I think about this award based on the eye test. I ain't even looked at the numbers here. I'm gonna go with Taris Halliburton as my number one. Actually, let me go look at the numbers. Now, Taris was a extremely popular pick going into the season for good reason. Once he got traded to the end in the Anapacuses, points per game was from like 15 points per game to 19. He was averaging double digit assists. And I mean, I'm looking at his stats right here. He's been incredible. 24 points per game. He's leading the league in assists and he also gives you 3.5 rebounds per. Those are insane numbers, my boy. And if we're comparing it to last season, he was 15.5 last season in totality and it jumped up almost 10 plus points. In assists, he got one extra assist, rebound and better. The turnover numbers have not really changed even though, you know, his responsibilities are higher and three out of the four games he's giving you at least a double double. I mean, this is by far, in my opinion, the guy that's the front runner for most improved players so far. Ain't really got no time for no arguments. Big long shotgun. Look like Laurie marketing, baby. He's gotta be number two. I mentioned him in yesterday's video. Even to them boys almost won again, but the streak ends against the Houston Rockets. I just knew, I knew it was. I said it yesterday. I knew it was gonna happen. But he went from 14.8 points per game to about 21 and a half. I mean, he's still, oh, it's actually three point numbers a lot lower than I thought it would be. We know that's probably gonna go up. He's been a career 35 ish, three point shooter. But for the most part, he's making an impactful place on both sides of the floor, something I didn't think I was gonna be able to say about Laurie marketing. So he would be my number two jumping up from 14 or about 15 to about 21. And lastly, a very underrated pick is going to be, why am I getting McDonald's and Shaq big podcast ads? Nick Richards. Nick Richards went from a guy that could not get on the floor through the first two years of his career. And then this year he's getting way more minutes. I mean, not a ton. He's only getting 22 minutes per, but he's averaging 15 and nine. And I watched him yesterday and this man was everywhere offensively and defensively. So a name that you might not have heard a ton in his NBA career so far is really making an impact on the Charlotte Hornets. So he's my number three. So I was thinking about Deira Fox for his jump up so far because he's been lights out as well. I mean, 31, six and seven is insane stats, especially when he only averaged 23 last season. So he will probably be number three for real, for real. But I wanted to give love to Nick Richards. So shout out to him. I mean, low key, we talking about just straight up jump. You can argue Deira Fox over Laurie Marketer. You know what I'm saying? So I was just kind of in the moment with Laurie because he is Laurie, but Deira Fox really good conversation. The more and more I look at these numbers, man, he's even hitting the three point shot. If he can keep, now he's not gonna shoot 45% this season, but if he can keep up as a average three point shooter, whoa, and unlock so much for Deira. Shout out to him, man. I'm still rooting for them, by the way. I just don't believe in it. You know what I'm saying? They still got my heart, but I'm just saying I'm not investing in them anymore. That was my problem. I invested, every video I was talking about, Kings this, Kings that, and they started off on three. But like, I'm still watching it every night hoping that they win until they come to Chicago. Oh, six man of the year is easily Christian Wood. I mean, Christian Wood is doing some crazy stuff in small amount of time. Here's my preseason pick. You know, he's after 25 and 10 again. There's only been two games that they've played so far, but he's doing it in how many minutes? Tell me again, 25 minutes per game. He's averaging one point per minute on the court and he's shooting 50% from three as a guy that's six nine, power forward center, and he's also shooting 55% from the field. Everybody knew that Christian Wood can hoop and everybody knew that Christian Wood can score, but he's doing it at a crazy clip through the first two games of the season. So he would be my six man of the year. Other candidates, I mean legit, it's probably Benedict Matherin. I'm trying to think of any other players that's been impact for off the bench. It's Benedict Matherin and a low key guy, Jettie Osmond. I watched Jettie Osmond just give the Bulls the word. I might even go Kevin Love. Kevin Love hit like nine threes against the Bulls the other day and the very next night, he also had a couple more. It's between Jettie Osmond and Kevin Love, tomato, tomato, both of them having really good for the Cavaliers so far. I mean, based on what we've seen so far, the coach of the year has to go to Chauncey Phillips again, took a team that I didn't think would be able to defend anything and they're doing that actively between the first unit and the second unit. So he's got to be number one. I've given Will Hardy the benefit of the doubt because they're three and one on the season and the one game that they lost almost went into overtime. And lastly, Greg Popovich. Every coach that exceeds the expectations for week one is getting love and Greg Popovich, Will Hardy and Chauncey Phillips are the three guys. Now I'm thinking about executive of the year. I'm thinking about a team that made whatever trades needed to be traded and improve their roster. I forget who's running the Cavaliers. Is it Kobe Altman? Kobe Altman moved over to president. So Mike Gansy, whoever's running the team over to Cavaliers should probably win executive of the year. And I'm saying that because Donovan Mitchell has been one of the best players in basketball, they lost Deers Garland 20 minutes into the season and it has not mattered whatsoever. They set a back to back and Donovan Mitchell basically gave them 30 plus points in every single one of those games. And I guess Danny Ains has to be in here too. I mean, we traded away Donovan Mitchell to Rudy Gobert and we're still better than some of the teams we traded them to, you know? But that's it. Those are all of my awards. You let me know. I mean, there's a lot of people that I want to show love to like Devin Booker has been hooping his butt off. But he can't win an award right now. I can't give it all. What about this guy every single time we do a war? So let me know in the comment section and I'll see y'all soon. Peace.