The NBA’s Most Improved Player

Mar 1, 2014

Before any NBA season starts we all have our predictions. We can tell you who will be MVP, Rookie of the Year and Defense Player of the Year very easily. When it comes to the NBA’s Most Improved Player though it is not as easy to predict. I know already I tried this summer and was probably dead wrong.

Last seasons winner was current superstar Paul George. George is a very rare case, last season he became an all-star in Danny Granger’s absence and lead the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals. This season this guy improved so drastically that he became a superstar that rivals the top two players in the league (LeBron James; Kevin Durant). One guy that could potentially win Most Improved Player is Georges teammate Lance Stephenson. Stephenson puts on a show almost every time he gets the ball; which is almost all game. The thing about Stephenson though is that hes played the same role for the Pacers this season that he did last season. When Granger went down the Pacers were desperate for a starter and Stephenson filled the role after this guy named Gerald Green didn’t do it justice.

That guy with the last name Green is actually who this article is about. Gerald Green’s rise in play was one of the most unexpected I’ve ever seen.

After being known as mostly a dunk contest guy Green flamed out of the league early in his career. He ended up going overseas and to the NBA Development League. After showing out in the D-League he ended up playing for a garbage New Jersey Nets for the rest of the season. Green acted a a** on that team, pretty much getting buckets and making highlights like this:

After that season the Pacers signed him and things really didn’t work out. Green failed to make the rotation in Indiana and failed to make an impact on the team. After the season he was traded along side Miles Plumlee and a first round draft pick for Louis Scola. The moved worked out pretty well for both teams as Scola was unless on a rebuilding team and Green and Plumlee both had no role on the Pacers. Now Scola plays a decent role off the bench for the Pacers as a role player while both Green and Plumlee are starters for a playoff team in the Western Conference.

Gerald Green has been a beast this season. Every season when I turn to a Phoenix Suns game, this guy is putting in work. Green is doing what he does best by throwing down nasty dunks on the regular but also draining his jump shot at a consistent rate. Green played okay at the beginning of the season but once Eric Bledsoe got hurt this guy elevated to another level. Offensively he became an consistent threat, whether hes going to drive or shoot he has become someone that you have to guard. Also he’s putting a great effort on the defensive end of the floor, effectively making a different.

Right now Green is averaging 14.8 points and 3 rebounds. That is almost double the 7 points and 2 rebounds that he averaged last season. Sounds like an improvement to me. I have to give credit to Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek as well, under his leadership Green has developed into a starter on a playoff team. Besides Lance Stephenson I don’t think anybody has a good argument against Gerald Greens improvement. Green put in work this season, he deserves to be rewarded.