NBA Award Watch: LeBron, Westbrook and Kuzma headline the honors

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 14: Brad Stevens, Coach of the Boston Celtics reacts during the NBA game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on November 14, 2017 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /

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With Week 5 in the books, we’re handing out awards to NBA players for their amazing performances, showcasing different skills — on and off the court.

Five weeks into the season, LeBron James and the Cavaliers are finally on the right track following their Arthur sub-tweet. Kyrie Irving and the Celtics keep winning, while the Rockets are following suit in the West. The Warriors finally seem disinterested in the regular season, but they out-talent teams on most nights. The Thunder seem to be having their struggles, while the Pistons are an early-season surprise.

In this weekly column, I’ll start to hand out awards based on the performances of the previous week. Obviously, some weeks I’ll take a look at the major NBA honors, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player and Executive of the Year. Other than these usual honors, I’ll also hand out awards for the Best Dunk, Dazzling Dime, Perfect Play, Fantastic Fashion and Terrific Tweet.

Let’s go ahead and select winners for the fifth week in the #NBAAwardWatch.

Coach of the Year

This one’s pretty easy so far this season. The best record in the NBA is owned by the Celtics at 18-4. Brad Stevens is a runaway candidate to win Coach of the Year, especially in the aftermath of the Gordon Hayward injury.

With that injury to their second-best player, the Celtics could have easily mailed in the season, but they’ve responded to the early season adversity in the best way possible. The young players on the roster, from Jaylen Brown to Jayson Tatum, are playing fantastic team basketball, and Kyrie Irving looks spry in the new offense.

Al Horford seems to be the most important Celtic and is playing his best season in Green and White. Stevens is currently the leader for the No. 1 defensive team in the NBA, which is the catalyst in their victories.

If they can continue to keep this up, they’ll definitely end up with one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, which should secure the Coach of the Year award for Stevens.

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