NBA Small Sample Size Awards

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 08: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with Andre Iguodala #9 of the Golden State Warriors during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China at Mercedes-Benz Arena on October 8, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /

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DALLAS, TX – SEPTEMBER 29: DeAndre Jordan #6 and Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks talk on the bench during a preseason game against the Beijing Ducks at American Airlines Center on September 29, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /

Rebounds

DeAndre Jordan (119), Andre Drummond (114), Hassan Whiteside (109)

There aren’t any surprising names here. These three players are very large human beings that play starters’ minutes and patrol near the rim. They’ve been consistent performers here for years and will be for the foreseeable future.

Blocks

JaVale McGee (26), Hassan Whiteside (21), Joel Embiid (21)

It has been remarkable to watch McGee excel with the Lakers, especially considering his performance against the Lakers as a member of the Nuggets in the 2012 playoffs. That series went to seven games, and that was mostly due to McGee’s impact on offense and defense. McGee had 22 blocks in the series but was too inconsistent to propel the Nuggets into the second round.

The player we see today has combined those physical gifts with experience and has LeBron James as his teammate. He’s still jumping at too many shots he can’t block, but he’s figured out that he just needs to lurk near the rim and he’s going to get plenty of chances to deflect shot attempts.

As for Whiteside and Embiid, again, these are two large humans that have been blessed with long arms. They block shots in different ways, but both are going to turn away a lot of shot attempts this season.

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