The NBA has released the voter ballots for the awards for the 2023-24 season and as always, it has led to some reporters being thrust into the spotlight. Greek reporter Tolis Kotzias from SDNA was one of them as he made quite a few controversial choices.
For starters, Kotzias didn’t even have Luka Doncic, who averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game this season, on his MVP ballot. The five-time All-Star’s heroics had helped the Dallas Mavericks finish with the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record, but Kotzias clearly wasn’t all that impressed.
Many others were, though, as Doncic finished third in MVP voting despite Kotzias thinking he didn’t deserve even a fifth-place vote. There were 99 sportswriters and broadcasters who voted for the awards and the Greek was the only one not to have Doncic on his ballot, which tells you just how ridiculous that is.
To make matters worse, Kotzias didn’t have Doncic on the All-NBA First Team either. Again, he was the only one among the 99 to exclude the 25-year-old. Just those two decisions would have been bad enough, but there was more.
While Kotzias at least had Doncic on the All-NBA Second Team, he shockingly left Jalen Brunson off his All-NBA ballot. Brunson averaged 28.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 0.9 steals per game in 2023-24 for the New York Knicks, who were the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 50-32 record.
As you might have guessed, Kotzias was the only voter to leave Brunson off his All-NBA ballot. What makes that puzzling, though, is that he had the Knicks guard at fourth in his MVP ballot. Did he just forget about Brunson when voting for the All-NBA teams? Maybe.
Lastly, Kotzias being Greek meant you somewhat expected some bias toward Giannis Antetokounmpo. He ended up being the only one to vote for the Milwaukee Bucks star as the MVP.
Antetokounmpo averaged 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game this season, but with the 49-33 Bucks not quite living up to expectations, he didn’t really have a great case to win MVP. This decision made by Kotzias being the least controversial one of the lot, though, speaks to how absurd the others were.
A Spanish Reporter Had Domantas Sabonis At Fourth For MVP And Third For DPOY
Spanish reporter Ignacio Garcia from Marca was another who raised eyebrows when the results came out. Garcia had Domantas Sabonis at fourth for MVP and at third for DPOY. He also had the Sacramento Kings big man on his All-NBA First Team and on his All-Defensive First Team.
I think Sabonis himself would be shocked if saw that. The 28-year-old had a fine season, as he averaged 19.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game, but he didn’t deserve strong consideration for the major awards or those two teams.
That’s made clear by the fact that Garcia was the only one to have Sabonis on these ballots. While some might find what he and Kotzias did to be somewhat funny, I think it’s unacceptable.
Players have clauses in their contracts where they earn more money if they make one of these All-NBA teams or win a major award and these voters have to be a bit more responsible. They might end up costing someone millions with some of their absurd decisions.
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