There’s all the time that one! Or two, as within the case with Paige Bueckers and the 2025 Rookie Of The Yr award.
What I’m referring to are the 2 voters who prevented a unanimous award winner as a result of they one way or the other satisfied themselves to consider one thing that 97% of their friends don’t assume.
I’m not taking something away from Sonia Citron and her spectacular rookie season, however Paige completed her season with the third most factors (692) and assists (194) in WNBA rookie historical past. Her 44-point masterclass final month broke the earlier WNBA rookie report (shared by her and Caitlin Clark) by 9 factors, and he or she did it on 81% taking pictures!
Paige can also be simply one in all two rookies (Clark being the opposite) in WNBA historical past to ever report 500+ factors, 150+ assists, 100+ rebounds, and 50+ steals in a season.
Are you able to think about carrying out this stuff and never being the Rookie Of The Yr? Nicely, for 2 individuals, these numbers weren’t sufficient.
4 minutes of Paige Bueckers bag work👀
(by way of @pitlessball) pic.twitter.com/jB7JFpkuNP https://t.co/m8EkUwx4IK
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 16, 2025
This incident jogged my memory of a few different nearly unanimous award winners.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL – MVP (1999/2000)
“He destroyed historical past being a b***h.”
That’s what Shaq needed to say concerning the late Fred Hickman when requested if he remembers who was the one voter out of 121 that didn’t assume he deserved the 2000 NBA MVP award.
“Fred Fool Hickman,” O’Neal mentioned on a 2019 episode of FAIR GAME. “I hate him. I don’t want to speak to him. There’s nothing to apologize about. As a result of he destroyed historical past being a b***h. “He tousled historical past. After which a few years later, he’s going to provide Steph Curry unanimous? I really like Steph. Steph’s my favourite man. He is aware of that. However c’mon.”
The next is the rationale why the CNN sports activities journalist picked The Reply over The Diesel:
“I picked the man who was essentially the most invaluable to his group. Philadelphia with out Allen Iverson was a CBA group, and if the Lakers didn’t have Shaq, they’d have nonetheless been a fairly good group.”
I get what he’s saying. However you possibly can’t vote for a man who made a “CBA group” into the group that completed third of their division over the man who simply had top-of-the-line seasons in NBA historical past and made his group almost unbeatable. The 67 wins have been two in need of the franchise report, and so they went on to win the primary of three straight championships.
The opposite drawback is that it’s not like Hickman gave his 1st place vote to the runner-up winner (Kevin Garnett). And even the third (Alonzo Mourning) or 4th (Karl Malone) place participant. Iverson completed seventh in MVP voting (Tim Duncan and Gary Payton have been fifth and sixth).
Fred’s response was it’s not like he voted for a backup middle that averaged 6 factors and 4 rebounds that season.
“Thoughtfully, and I’d do it once more. However why anybody has an issue with me, I don’t get it. I can sleep with my determination. If I’d voted for Chris Anstey, I may perceive the response.”
Listed here are another reactions to Hickman stopping Shaq from turning into the primary unanimous MVP winner.
Jerry West: “God, I really feel sorry for the one man who didn’t vote for him.”
Marques Johnson: “What occurred? A few of Iverson’s boys should have had his daughter tied up in a Brooklyn basement; there was some extortion happening?
Jack Haley: “For Fred Hickman to not vote for Shaq is one in all two issues: both a publicity stunt or whole ignorance for the sport of basketball.”
LEBRON JAMES – MVP (2012/2013)
Like Shaq, LeBron was cheated out of turning into the primary unanimous MVP winner due to a single individual. That individual should have nonetheless been upset that LeBron gained Rookie Of The Yr over Carmelo Anthony as a result of he gave Melo his 1st place vote. Or possibly he was having LeBron MVP fatigue for the reason that Warmth famous person gained two of the final three.
That individual is the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, and his reasoning sounded so much like Hickman:
“Should you have been to take Anthony off the Knicks, they’re a lottery group. James performs with two different All-Stars, the league’s all-time 3-point chief, a defensive stalwart, and a fearless level guard. The Warmth are loaded. If LeBron was taken away from the Warmth, they nonetheless can be a fifth or sixth seed. He’s one of the best participant of this technology, a multifaceted famous person with the bodily prowess of Adonis, however I selected to reward a participant who has lifted his group to new heights.
“I voted for Carmelo based mostly on his significance to the New York Knicks, who, when you haven’t been paying consideration the previous decade, have did not be related. When the voting was introduced, I used to be flabbergasted to study I used to be the lone voter amongst 121 to not give LeBron a first-place vote, actually believing Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and maybe even Kobe Bryant would snag a first-place vote or two.”
Melo was appreciative of the vote however agreed LeBron deserved it.
“I’ll take a first place vote,” Anthony mentioned. “So far as MVP, LeBron will get it. I take my hat off to him. He had a hell of a 12 months.”
That is what LeBron and the Warmth did that season:
26.8 PTS (Profession excessive 57% FG), 8 REB, 7.3 AST, 1.7 STL
All-Defensive 1st Crew and 2nd in Defensive Participant Of The Yr (Marc Gasol gained it)
Franchise-best 67 wins
27-game win streak (third longest in NBA historical past)
CAITLIN CLARK – ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (2024)
62 WNBA information as a rookie?
Clark didn’t simply have one of many biggest WNBA rookie seasons ever; she had one of many biggest WNBA common seasons ever. But, the next was not sufficient for the one voter out of 67 who gave her vote to Angel Reese.
MOST AST IN A SEASONCaitlin Clark: 337Alyssa Thomas: 316
MOST 3PTS IN A SEASONSabrina Ionescu: 128Caitlin Clark: 122
MOST CAREER 25 PTS/10 AST GAMESCaitlin Clark: 5 (40 GMS)Sabrina Ionescu: 5 (141 GMS)
MOST AST IN A GAMECaitlin Clark: 19Courtney Vandersloot: 18
MOST PTS BY A ROOKIECaitlin Clark: 769Seimone Augustus: 744
MOST TRIPLE DOUBLES BY A ROOKIECaitlin Clark: 2Everyone else: 0
Andraya Carter & Chiney Ogwumike feels Caitlin Clark ought to’ve been UNANIMOUS ROTY
“Coming off of Olympic break Caitlin Clark separated herself, to do this as a rookie within the face of that a lot defensive stress ought to’ve been unanimous”#WNBA #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/tsHqlfCLyq
— AK (@Sudharsan_AK10) October 5, 2024
ESPN’s Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike not solely voiced why Clark ought to have been unanimous however Carter thinks the world ought to know who that Reese voter was:
“And because of this we’d love for the WNBA to make voting not nameless. As a result of when you have been the individual that had that one vote. We should always have the ability to know who you might be.”
As for Reese, that is what she tweeted after the award announcement: “Wakened once more a very blessed woman. a really comfortable woman.”
JA MORANT – ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (2019/2020)
Zion Williamson averaged 22.5 factors, 6.3 rebounds, and shot 58% from the sphere.
Ja Morant averaged 17.8 factors, 7.3 assists, and shot 48% from the sphere.
What’s the issue with the one one that thought Zion was the Rookie of the Yr?
The issue is Zion solely performed 24 video games and that is why the opposite 99 voters gave it to Ja, who referred to as out that voter on Twitter.
recognize you 🤝 i’m not gonna do an excessive amount of , ima let everyone else do dat . i simply wanna know why lol 🤔👂🏽
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) September 19, 2020
The voter’s motive:
“Ja is a transcendent player- no arguing that. However the ROTY ought to go to essentially the most impactful. The NBA constructed a TV schedule round Zion and expanded a bubble for Zion. His 24 video games have been must-see TV. I’ll take that 24-and change PER and stand on that facet of historical past.”
PAOLO BANCHERO – ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (2022/23)
What’s it concerning the Rookie Of The Yr award? We don’t have as many examples of this taking place with different awards. There’s the case of James Harden getting 115 out of 119 votes for the sixth Man Of The Yr award in 2012, however the majority of those “there’s all the time that one” instances are about rookies.
The final case was Paolo Banchero, who averaged 20 factors, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and didn’t get two out of the 100 first-place votes.
Right here is Andy Larsen explaining why he was one of many two individuals who voted for Walker Kessler.
Principally… the superior stats all favor Kessler, and I’ve all the time been an analytically-oriented voter. I believe I’d have made this vote even when I lined one other group.
Right here’s the place the rookies rank in EPM, and right here’s what I wrote in explaining my vote. pic.twitter.com/bmYd0RQEwI
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 14, 2023
