Given that I got almost every single NBA prediction wrong last year, severely overestimating the voting influence of the New York media, you’d think I would give this a miss this season. But there were three important things I got right: the two Conference champions (Miami and San Antonio), and the eventual NBA champion (Miami). And that has given me enough encouragement to try again. So here are some more hoops predictions to laugh at during April 2014:
MVP: Yes, I picked against LeBron James last season. I thought New York’s improvement last season – which incidentally, did happen - would be enough to get the media behind Carmelo Anthony, even if he didn’t deserve it. In fairness, I did say LeBron would have the better season, and Carmelo actually did end up getting the one vote that didn’t go to James for the exact reason I thought he would get the majority of votes.
So surely I’ve learnt my lesson, and will back the best player on the planet this season, right? Not so fast. I think the Heat might take a backward step this season, and voter fatigue for James must surely soon set in. I’m actually going to pick LA Clippers point guard Chris Paul to take home the trophy. The Clippers won a lot of games last season, and I think they’ll win over 60 games this season, which given this is the Clippers is almost barely conceivable. And I think that will swing voters Paul’s way. Plus, it would really annoy Lakers fans, which is another reason for wanting it to happen.
All-NBA Teams: 1st – Paul, James Harden (Houston), James, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City), Dwight Howard (Houston); 2nd – Derrick Rose (Chicago) , Kyrie Irving (Cleveland), Blake Griffin (LA Clippers), Kevin Love (Minnesota), Marc Gasol (Memphis); 3rd – Paul George (Indiana), Tony Parker (San Antonio), Carmelo Anthony (New York), Greg Monroe (Detroit), Joakim Noah (Chicago).
All-Star Teams: East – Rose, Dwyane Wade (Miami), James, Anthony, Noah (starters), George, Monroe, Irving, Al Horford (Atlanta), Chris Bosh (Miami), Luol Deng (Chicago), Josh Smith (Detroit); West: Paul, Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers), Durant, Griffin, Howard (starters), Love, Parker, Gasol, Stephen Curry (Golden State), Anthony Davis (New Orleans), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas), Mike Conley (Memphis).
Most Improved Player: Oh, I don’t know … let’s go for Andre Drummond (Detroit), because he’s awesome and he should get an increase in minutes.
Sixth Man of Year: Jarrett Jack (Cleveland).
Defensive Player of the Year: Howard. The Houston Rockets are going to kill it this year.
Coach of the Year: Doc Rivers (LA Clippers)
Western Conference Champion: Houston.
Eastern Conference Champion: Miami. Meaning that, if I’m right, the Finals will feature both LeBron and Dwight Howard, and the internet will explode.
Champion: I actually think Houston will do it, with Howard winning Finals MVP. Or maybe I just want Lakers fans to have the worst season ever.
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