By Mark Paulette,
The 2019 NBA Awards took place Monday night in Santa Monica, CA. Rather than run through the best of the best in 2019, let’s flip the script and award the worst of the worst. It’s the 2019 NBA Razzies, as voted on by the listeners of The Drive.
Worst Lead in a Starring Role
- Winner: Kyrie Irving (44% of the vote)
- Though he posted a solid stat line of 24/5/7, Kyrie is the sole reason in the eyes of many as to why the Boston Celtics simply didn’t work in 2018-19. His inability to lead the team sent the C’s spiraling into dysfunction, while his ball-dominant style of play stunted the growth of bright young talents like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier.
- Other’s receiving votes: LeBron James (33%), Anthony Davis (11%), Russell Westbrook (11%).
Biggest Box Office Flop
- Winner: Los Angeles Lakers (56% of the vote)
- It was a harsh reality for those who thought that ‘Showtime’ was back in L.A. There was an early tease, but once LeBron went down with the groin injury, and subsequently wanted to jettison every other Laker if it meant getting Anthony Davis, the season took a nosedive, resulting in the sixth straight playoffs-less year in LaLa land.
- Other’s receiving votes: Boston Celtics (44%)
Worst Director
- Winner: James Dolan (67% of the vote)
- This one seems simple. An egomaniac with seemingly no sense of how to run a professional sports franchise has turned the New York Knicks into arguably the biggest laughing stock in the league. Despite playing on the grandest stage in all of sports, at the sports ‘Meca,’ year after year the Knicks find themselves at the bottom of the league because of the lack of leadership at the organization’s helm. 2019 was no different, as the Knickerbockers went a putrid 19-63.
- Other’s receiving votes: Magic Johnson (33%)
Biggest Dumpster Fire
- Winner: New York Knicks (89% of the vote)
- Simply stated, see above.
- Other’s receiving votes: Cleveland Cavaliers (11%)
Worst Player (based on return vs. budget)
- Winner: Joakim Noah (63% of the vote)
- Noah began the year with the team voted ‘Biggest Dumpster Fire,’ run by the ‘Worst Director,’ so it should really make sense that, even if for only so briefly, they had the ‘Worst Player’ on their roster. Before playing a game at Madison Square Garden, however, the Knicks ate Noah’s remaining $37.8mil in salary and shipped him to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he toiled away, averaging 5.1ppg and 4.7rpg. That’s about one point every $7.5mil and one rebound every $8mil. Yikes.
- Other’s receiving votes: Ryan Anderson (25%), Chandler Parsons (12%)
