I don’t know how you could go from out of the league to overnight sensation slash one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, putting up numbers we haven’t seen since Shaquille O’Neal, and not win the Most Improved Player award, but that’s exactly what Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside did.
Whiteside finished fourth in the voting, behind award winner Jimmy Butler, who led the Chicago Bulls scoring attack for most of the season and ran away with the voting, with 535 total votes. Golden State’s Draymond Green finished second (200) and Utah’s Rudy Gobert finished in third (189).
All four players have a legitimate claim to the award, but it was really a three-man race. Butler, Green and Gobert all finished with significantly more votes, including double-digit first place votes. Whiteside was far behind, with just five first place votes (88 total).
Hassan Whiteside's first place votes came from Hubie Brown, Joe Cowley (Chicago Sun-Times), @SeanDeveney @EReidMiamiHeat & @JoeGoodmanJr
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) May 7, 2015
It’s understandable that Whiteside played in just half of his team’s games, and that Butler played nearly the full season with the Bulls. However, I thought his increase in production was a reflection of more usage than his actual improvement (he went from using 16.8 percent of the Bulls’ possessions in 2013-14 to 21.6 percent this season).
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Draymond Green is probably who I would have voted for if I didn’t make him my Defensive Player of the Year. He played a complete season and took the leap from solid role player to max-level talent.
However, some voters probably made him their DPOY and didn’t vote for him for MIP (just a guess) and Klay Thompson, who finished fifth (42 votes) likely stole some votes from his teammate.
Gobert had a similar season to Whiteside, emerging as one of the better rim protectors in the league and a long-term asset for his team. However, unlike Whiteside, was on his team for the entire season.
While not getting voted for Most Improved Player could be a bummer for Miami’s up-and-coming center, it doesn’t take away from his spectacular season. It should only give Whiteside, who averaged 11.8 points, 10 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, another chip on his shoulder. The last thing the rest of the NBA needs.