Criteria for the 2019-20 NBA Awards revealed

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA MVP

One of the things worth looking forward to following the conclusion of the playoffs is the NBA Awards. Players and coaches who put in the hustle during the long season are appreciated for their efforts.

However, the various rules and regulations in place with regards to voting among other things for the NBA Awards were blown out of the water with the NBA suspension in March. Not only do we have only 22 teams completing the regular season, no franchise will be playing their full quota of 82 games either.

Thus, the NBA needed to introduce new criteria for the NBA Awards, and the first few details of the same were shared by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The NBA’s annual performance awards (MVP, Rookie of Year, Sixth Man, Defensive Player, Coach of Year, etc.) will be based upon regular season through March 11, when the season suspended, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 17, 2020

Six core honors are up for grabs during the NBA Awards with the association announcing the finalists a few weeks before the ceremony.

Also read: Top 5 contenders for the 2019-20 NBA Most Improved Player award

While there's no update on when and how the NBA Awards ceremony will take place, the decision to consider cases based on performances till March 11 is a welcomed one. This allows the NBA to judge all the 30 teams with their respective players and coaches on an equal footing.

The 2019 NBA Awards took place on 24th June last year

Also, it's hard to standardize the impact that the NBA suspension will have on the players once the season resumes. While someone could take things up a notch another award contender could possibly lose rhythm.

Sources: NBA has informed teams: "The decision to exclude seeding games from awards voting ensures a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 teams will have the same opportunity to be honored..." League will soon announce voting process and plan to announce winners. https://t.co/lTyO11LtFN
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 17, 2020

How the voting mechanism will work for the NBA Awards this time around is anyone's guess at the moment. As mentioned by Shams Charania above though, the association plans on announcing the due process soon.

While awards are based on voting and opinions of analysts and experts, stats are absolute. Hence the NBA has decided that for season leaders though, numbers from the eight seeding games will also be included.

Favorites for the NBA Awards

Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are in the running for the MVP award

While the top three finalists for each award will be declared later, we have a bit of an idea as to will be the likely contenders for some of these honors.

The MVP race is likely to be between Giannis Antetokounmpo who's continued his dominance and LeBron James who's led the LA Lakers to prominence once again.

Toronto Raptors' Nick Nurse will be looking to get his hands on the Coach of the Year honors but LA Lakers' Frank Vogel and Milwaukee's Mike Budenholzer are likely to have a look in as well.

Also read: 5 reasons why Giannis Antetokounmpo will win the 2019-20 NBA MVP