Jan 21, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The All-Star Break is approaching, which means we’re near the emotional half-way point of the NBA season. Time to check in on leaders for the NBA Anti-Awards. These awards are in the fifth season, recognizing some of the worst and most discouraging statistical achievements each year. You can find the full list of previous winners here.
We’ve had plenty of surprise winners in the past and these awards can be incredibly difficult to predict. A lot can change between now and April, but here’s where we stand right now. Feel free to let me know your favorites in each race in the comments, on Twitter @NylonCalculus or at the Nylon Calculus Facebook page.
Dec 12, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik (3) dunks over Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao (17) as forward LeBron James (23) looks on from the back court during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Cavaliers 119-114. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The Shawn Bradley Award – This award goes to the player 6’10″ or taller who has had the highest percentage of his own shot attempts blocked (minimum 500 minutes played).
It’s all about Omer Asik. Last season, he became the first repeat winner of this award and I pegged him as the favorite in my preseason prediction post. To say that he has lived up to expectations would be a vast understatement. To this point, nearly a quarter of Asik’s shot attempts have been blocked—23.7 percent. That would be a new high-watermark for The Shawn Bradley Award, which we could probably hand off to Asik right now. He is a full 10 percentage points ahead of Mason Plumlee, the next closest qualified player. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what sustained excellence looks like.
Nov 11, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) celebrates with guard Ben McLemore (23) after a score during the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The Shawn Kemp Award – This award goes to the player who has fouled out of the most games. From 1986 up through 2011, Shawn Kemp was the NBA’s leader in foul outs with 115, 35 more than his next closest competitor.
This race has been extremely close to this point and somehow, DeMarcus Cousins has found himself out in front—fouling out five times in just 32 games. The narrative about Cousins early in the season was how he had matured and brought his considerable talents under control. However, things were destabilized around him when Head Coach Mike Malone was fired and Cousins fouled out of three of the 11 games he played in the month of January. Andre Drummond, Alex Len and Jusuf Nurkic are all tied with four foul-outs, just behind Cousins. Of that group, Nurkic has to be considered the favorite. He’s a rookie and will likely see more and more minutes as the season goes on and the Denver Nuggets find themselves further and further outside the playoff race. He’s averaging an astonishing 7.1 fouls per 36 minutes. Get him on the floor enough and Nurkic will get this one done.
Oct 9, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) looks on during the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
The Jahidi White Award – This award goes to the player with the lowest ratio of Ast/FGA (minimum 500 minutes played). The award is named for White who assisted on just 1.7% of his teammates’ baskets over a 334 game career.
In the preseason, I pointed at last year’s winner, Andre Drummond as a likely candidate to repeat. Drummond has kept pace with his performance from last season, but he’s found himself in the middle of a fierce battle—a virtual tie between himself, Jonas Valanciunas, Enes Kanter and Brook Lopez. All are big men with a touch of awkwardness. All are unskilled passers. All are likely to touch the ball primarily when their teams would like them to shoot it. However, Valanciunas, Kanter and Lopez are more active in the low and high-posts and will be given more opportunities to share the ball. If I was a betting man, which I am, my money would be on Drummond.
Dec 22, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Darrick Martin Award – This award goes to the player with the lowest FG% and a minimum of 350 attempts. The award is named for Darrick Martin, a career 38.2% shooter who played 514 games over 13 NBA seasons.
In the summer, I felt really strongly that this award was Rodney Stuckey’s to lose. With all the injuries the Pacers had suffered, along with his lengthy work history as a bricklayer, it seemed like a foregone conclusion. Instead, Stuckey has been borderline respectable while two of his teammates have taken up the chase. Both Solomon Hill and C.J. Miles are shooting under 39 percent from the field, placing among the ten worst field goal percentages this season. The current leader is Gary Neal, but Miles, Hill, Trey Burke and Nick Young are all within striking distance. A dark horse candidate would be Trevor Ariza—currently fourth, at 37.2 percent from the field. He’s been all over the map in his career but, generally, when his shooting percentages go bad, they go waaaaaaay bad. This is definitely a category to keep an eye on.
Oct 24, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) looks on during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Scottrade Center. The Timberwolves won 113-112. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
The Jason Kidd Award – This award goes to the player with the most turnovers in a single game. Jason Kidd has had a Hall of Fame career with many terrific positive statistical contributions. He’s also had 3 career games with more than 12 turnovers.
Incongruity, thy name is Rose. Currently, the top spot is held by Derrick Rose who turned the ball over 11 times in what was perhaps the Chicago Bulls’ biggest win of the season—knocking off the Golden State Warriors earlier this week. Sadly, for the first time in two years, this award will not go to Kobe Bryant. Several players were already ahead of him before he suffered his season-ending rotator cuff tear. Rose’s hold is not secure by any means, even with Kobe out of the picture. Stephen Curry, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, LeBron James, Michael Carter-Williams, James Harden and DeMarcus Cousins (twice) have all had games with at least 9 turnovers so far this season.
Jan 25, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Damjan Rudez (9) points after making a three pointer against the Orlando Magic in the fourth quarter at Amway Center. Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 106-99. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Matt Bullard Award – This award goes to the player 6’10″ or taller with the lowest Total Rebound Percentage. (Minimum 500 minutes)
From the aether, a new contender has emerged. 28-year old rookie, Damjan Rudez, has secured just 3.0 percent of available rebounds when he’s been on the floor. That is less than half the rebound rate of his next closest competitors, Perry Jones and Matt Bonner. Whether Rudez is able to hang on or not, this season appears to be the end of Steve Novak’s stranglehold on this award. Novak, who has won this award three of the four seasons it’s been handed out, has played just 75 minutes for the Utah Jazz this season. His absurdly high 10.2 total rebound rate is certainly a product of small sample size, but it seems extremely unlikely that he will be able to meet the minimum minute requirement. All good things must come to an end.
Dec 2, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
The Kobe Bryant Award – This award goes to the player who has missed the most shot attempts in a single game. The award is inspired by Kobe’s performance in Game 7 of the 09-10 Finals.
Kobe’s season-ending injury means he’s going to have to sit and sweat this one out, right until the bitter end. He currently holds the top two spots—23 misses against the Suns on November 4th and 22 misses against the Kings on December 21st—but several players are nipping at his heels. James Harden and Derrick Rose have both had games with 20+ misses and there is plenty of meaningless basketball left to be played by volume shooters like Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Kemba Walker and Michael Carter-Williams. This award might not be decided until we reach the last day of the season.
Apr 20, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) attempts a free throw during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers in game one during the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Nick Anderson Award – This award goes to the player who missed the most free throws in a single game. Anderson was actually a decent free throw shooter. But his four missed free throw attempts in the 1995 Finals against Houston kind of stand out in my memory.
This category has been all sorts of fun. Andre Drummond currently holds the belt, having missed 11 free throws on December 30th against the Magic. Dwight Howard is doing his damndest to catch up, having missed 9 free throws on four separate occasions. Even some newcomers are getting in on the fun—both Thomas Robinson and the venerable Tim Duncan have had games with 10 missed free throws this year. Keep an eye on this category moving forward. Actually, better keep both eyes on it, you don’t want to get hit in the face by an unexpected carom.
Jan 25, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Fans cheer as Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) walks to the bench after fouling out in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The Chris Childs Award – This award goes to the player who has posted the highest Turnover Percentage so far this season. It’s named after former New York Knick Chris Childs, who retired with a career Turnover Percentage of 22.8%. (Minimum 500 minutes)
In the preseason, I thought that perhaps this was Steven Adams’ year. Apparently, Kendrick Perkins is not ready to pass the torch just yet. So far this season, Perkins has turned the ball over on 25.1 percent of his possessions, well ahead of the next closest player. Perkins won last year, but may be in line for a lifetime achievement award. His career TO% is 24.1 percent. This is his 13th season in the NBA, all with a TO% above 20. Sorry Steven. Maybe next year.
Dec 8, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland (22) lines up along the free throw lane while the Atlanta Hawks shoot a free throw at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Atlanta defeats Indiana 108-92. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The Andrea Bargnani Award (Formerly the Darius Songaila Award) – This award goes to the player who has provided his team with the least overall production. I use Wins Produced to determine the winner here. (Minimum 500 minutes)
There are so many different templates for being a negative contributor, but Chris Copeland, our current leader at -1.4 wins, has settled into one of our old favorites—the perimeter shooting specialist who doesn’t rebound or play defense and also isn’t actually a very good shooter. The most well-defined skill he has to offer is his jump shot, of which he has made just 29.5 percent this season. If the Pacers keep him on the floor, he should win this going away.