The players union is introducing the Players Choice Awards.
That should please plenty of players, including Kevin Durant.
But John Wall is not on board.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:
There are plenty of players who seem excited about the idea of the NBPA voting on season long awards. One who isn't, though, is John Wall.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 10, 2015
Wall, on if he had voted for the NBPA's Player's Choice Awards (ballots were handed out at shootaround today): "No, and I probably won't."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 10, 2015
Wall also made a compelling argument against players getting votes, saying that he didn't trust them to be impartial in their votes.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 10, 2015
Wall: "As players, we know who the players are, but sometimes your pride and ego come in & you don't want to see that person get an award."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 10, 2015
Wall is correct.
However, the media and coaches who pick awards also face biases.
Subconsciously – or sometimes even consciously – media members vote for players they like personally and/or against players they don’t. Coaches have their own conflicts of interest.
There’s no perfect way to handle awards.
The Players Choice Awards could be more or less credible than the mainstream awards, and we’ll have to see how this plays out over the years. I think competitive NBA players will have a harder time setting aside their biases, but they don’t have to be perfect for their awards to matter.
They have to try, though – and it’s unclear how many of the are willing to do that. It doesn’t sound as if Wall is.