NBA awards have been highly scrutinized and questioned because their definitions are so vague, with a lot of the conversation this year revolving around Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James for the MVP award, but also Bradley Beal in the All-NBA conversation.
Some claim awards should go to the best players on the best teams, others believe they’re all individual awards, and still others claim that the level of difficulty and level of players around the player factors into their decision. Some arguments and rationale are cherry picked each year to fit individual narratives. That seemed to be the case this year, according to James and the MVP Award.
On the daily Locked On Wizards Podcast, host Renee Washington explains why Giannis Antetokounmpo winning MVP over LeBron proves that Bradley Beal should have also made an All-NBA Team.
Renee Washington: Many have said Bradley Beal did not deserve to be named to an All-NBA Team because the Wizards did not make the playoffs, although it is an individual award.
But if you're going to tell me that because it's an individual award Giannis is the better MVP candidate than LeBron James. Then if it's an individual award, why isn't Bradley Beal on an All-NBA Team? I mean, I’ll run that by you again. Many have said the reason Giannis won MVP is because it's an individual award. LeBron James has Anthony Davis, who is a very good player, he is coming into his own, top player in the league, also on First Team All-NBA, second runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. Do not get me wrong. But I was told and I've been hearing people say the reason the LeBron didn't win is because it's not a team award, and individual to individual, comparing Giannis to LeBron, looking at their individual performances since that's the key word everybody keeps saying in the regular season, Giannis is better.
So then why is Bradley Beal, as an individual, not better than a Ben Simmons or Russell Westbrook? It does not make sense. We're not looking at teams. We're not looking at their records. We're not looking at where they finished, if they made the playoffs or not. You're telling me we're solely looking at Giannis Antetokounmpo versus LeBron James. And player for player, Giannis had the better season statistically; player for player, Bradley Beal statistically had a better season than, let's say Ben Simmons. Why is he not on an All-NBA team? We cannot change the narrative when it's convenient.
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