One Vote Does Count, and These Guys Win

As is my habit at this point of the season, I’d like to offer a little prayer:

Thank heaven that’s over!

The postseason is especially welcome locally, since another week of the regular season might have finished the Lakers off. Meanwhile, the Clippers’ season ended at the All-Star break, even if they made no announcement and kept charging admission.

This means it’s time for my annual Iconoclast Awards, in which I pooh-pooh the opinions of everyone I don’t agree with, except for the ones I’m apologizing to because they were right.

The envelope, please. Oh, I forgot, there’s only one vote, mine. Just the way I like it.

Most valuable player -- Kevin Garnett, Minnesota.

Talk about an idea whose time has come. Garnett was deserving last season but finished second because Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs did better. This time, the Timberwolves were No. 1 in the West and every other MVP candidate had an injury-shortened season, embarrassed himself, or both.

Garnett could be unanimous, except for all the bozos with votes. OK, who’s this season’s Fred Hickman?

Honorable mention -- Duncan, San Antonio; Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana; Kobe Bryant, Lakers.

Rookie of the year -- Carmelo Anthony, Denver.

I’m not doing this because the Nuggets made the playoffs. I’m amazed to find myself doing it at all because I didn’t think Anthony was half as good as LeBron James, who was considered the greatest prospect ever and exceeded expectations as a rookie.

I still expect James to be the better player, but Anthony had an incredible second half, averaging 24 points after the All-Star break.

James has his head on straight, as opposed to Anthony, who must have been involved when Jeff Bzdelik, who was considered a bright young coach, suddenly lost control of the team.

But Anthony was the rookie with the grown-up game. For all James’ playmaking wizardry, he plays outside-in, taking jump shots as if he were Larry Bird. Anthony took the ball to the basket, got 6.4 free throws a game and 7.3 after the break. Michael Jordan got 9.1 as a rookie.

Honorable mention -- Dwyane Wade, Miami, another major comer.

Coach of the year -- Hubie Brown, Memphis.

It’s hard to pass up Utah’s Jerry Sloan after a lifetime of excellence and a season in which he quadrupled expectations. However, 50 wins in the West with the young Grizzlies is more like changing water into wine than coaching.

Honorable mention -- Terry Porter, Milwaukee; Rick Carlisle, Indiana.

Crummy coach of the year -- Scott Skiles, Chicago.

He never showed his dark side in a promising first stint in Phoenix, but it popped out of him in Chicago, like the creature in “Alien.”

Encouraged by General Manager John Paxson, who was exasperated with the Bulls’ young players, Skiles got little out of them and skewered them in the press. It made for good copy but bad ambience.

Defensive player of the year -- Ron Artest, Indiana.

Few NBA players have deserved the new tag “lock-down defender,” but Artest does. Tough, powerful and amazingly quick at 6 feet 6, 240 pounds, he’s in a class with Dennis Rodman as a defender, and is an 18-point scorer.

Happily, he’s more lucid than Rodman but could stand to mellow out a little more.

Honorable mention -- Ben Wallace, Detroit; Garnett, Minnesota.

Executive of the year -- Jerry West, Memphis.

The Grizzlies were a joke when he got there and that was only two seasons ago. Everyone had the same reaction when he hired Brown --”Who?” -- but that’s why he’s Jerry West and no one else is.

Honorable mention -- Kiki Vandeweghe, Denver; Kevin McHale, Minnesota; Joe Dumars, Detroit; Mitch Kupchak, Lakers.

Crummy executive of the year -- Paxson, Chicago.

There was frantic competition for this year’s Donny, the Donald T. Sterling Award, with Donald Sterling himself making his usual strong run after all eight of his free agents tried to leave last summer.

But no one could top Paxson, who flipped out at his young players and charted a new course, finishing with one-third of the roster made up of minor leaguers as he searched for scrappy, hungry players, like he and Skiles used to be.

The situation is so far gone, insiders say, that Paxson may trade Tyson Chandler for nothing more than a good player, like the Spurs’ Malik Rose or the Grizzlies’ Mike Miller, if he can get rid of a problem contract, like Eddie Robinson’s too.

Danny Ainge’s first season as Boston GM blew up in his face so badly, he has to go on this list. But he was right, electing to begin rebuilding rather than accepting respectability that wasn’t leading anywhere. The execution threw Ainge, who panicked and traded for Ricky Davis on some goofy theory they’re doing what Red Auerbach did, which was build the offense first.

What Auerbach did was get great players, right out from under everyone else’s nose.

Honorable mention --Sterling; Glen Grunwald, Toronto, since fired; Garry St. Jean, Golden State; George Shinn, New Orleans.

All-hubris -- Tracy McGrady, Orlando.

Everyone thought he was a model young player until bad times hit. After ripping teammates for quitting, he announced his resignation from their dreadful season, shutting it down with a month left to “rest my knee” for the Olympics.

Honorable mention -- Allen Iverson, Philadelphia. The little warrior’s knee injury looked suspicious, occurring after they cratered and interim coach Chris Ford cracked down on him.

GM Billy King spent weeks looking the other way as Iverson took off for Atlantic City, rather than stay with the team and go to rehab. They hope to find Iverson a coach he likes, such as Portland’s Mo Cheeks, but Trail Blazer owner Paul Allen just stepped in, declaring they won’t let Mo go.

When Plan B bombs, whatever it is, the 76ers will trade Iverson for whatever they can get. They may have missed but the clock has already struck 12.

Most improved player -- Zach Randolph, Portland.

Former GM Bob Whitsitt lived on the edge and finally fell off, but he also pulled out more than one plum late in drafts.

Randolph, the No. 19 pick in 2001, went from 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game in his second season to 20 and 10.5 in his third and is now the foundation of the post-Whitsitt era.

Honorable mention -- Michael Redd, Milwaukee; Carlos Boozer, Cleveland.

Comeback player of the year -- Lamar Odom, Miami.

The league changed this award to “most improved” to keep from honoring players emerging from detox programs. Odom had a problem, not only with marijuana, as he acknowledged after leaving the Clippers, but growing up in general.

It was a good bet he’d have a great season, as when he was on the spot as a Clipper rookie, so the real test will be next season. But there’s no taking away from what he did. At 17 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game, he was the Odom the Clippers dreamed of.

Honorable mention -- Darius Miles, Portland.

All-NBA first team -- Garnett, Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant and Jason Kidd.

Second team -- Jermaine O’Neal, Peja Stojakovic, Yao Ming, Steve Nash and McGrady.

Third team -- Dirk Nowitzki, Randolph, Wallace, Baron Davis and Paul Pierce.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Carlisle, who was calling voters to lobby for his players, can get Jermaine O’Neal on the first team, arguing that Duncan is really a center.

That would mean that Duncan, or Shaq, would have to be on the second team. Of course, to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Force is very strong with the weak-minded.

Loretta Summers Heisler Award for my worst call -- I said the Clippers were right to let Odom go, rather than give him $10 million a year. I’d say the jury’s still out on that one.

On the other hand, I have to concede my insistence that Michael Olowokandi was the right Clipper draft pick is in trouble.

As my long-suffering wife could tell you, I’m nothing if not persistent. I thought Olowokandi would be great in Minnesota, where Garnett keeps everyone in line. Instead, Olowokandi had problems with both knees and so bugged team brass, they almost dumped him at mid-season.

He did pick it up at the very end. Maybe they just needed to de-Clipperize him.